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Article|01 Feb 2019|OPEN
Integrated analysis of high-throughput sequencing data shows abscisic acid-responsive genes and miRNAs in strawberry receptacle fruit ripening
Dongdong Li1,2 , Wangshu Mou1 , Rui Xia3 , Li Li1 , Christopher Zawora2 , Tiejin Ying1 , Linchun Mao1 and Zhongchi Liu2 , , Zisheng Luo,1 ,
1College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Key Laboratory of AgroProducts Postharvest Handling Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Agri-Food Processing, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, P.R. China
2Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
3State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, South China Agricultural University, 510642 Guangzhou, P.R. China
*Corresponding author. E-mail: zliu@umd.edu,luozisheng@zju.edu.cn

Horticulture Research 6,
Article number: 26 (2019)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41438-018-0100-8
Views: 1063

Received: 27 Apr 2018
Revised: 25 Aug 2018
Accepted: 02 Sep 2018
Published online: 01 Feb 2019

Abstract

The perception and signal transduction of the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) are crucial for strawberry fruit ripening, but the underlying mechanism of how ABA regulates ripening-related genes has not been well understood. By employing high-throughput sequencing technology, we comprehensively analyzed transcriptomic and miRNA expression profiles simultaneously in ABA- and nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA, an ABA biosynthesis blocker)-treated strawberry fruits with temporal resolution. The results revealed that ABA regulated many genes in different pathways, including hormone signal transduction and the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Transcription factor genes belonging to WRKY and heat shock factor (HSF) families might play key roles in regulating the expression of ABA inducible genes, whereas the KNOTTED1-like homeobox protein and Squamosa Promoter-Binding-like protein 18 might be responsible for ABA-downregulated genes. Additionally, 20 known and six novel differentially expressed miRNAs might be important regulators that assist ABA in regulating target genes that are involved in versatile physiological processes, such as hormone balance regulation, pigments formation and cell wall degradation. Furthermore, degradome analysis showed that one novel miRNA, Fa_novel6, could degrade its target gene HERCULES1, which likely contributed to fruit size determination during strawberry ripening. These results expanded our understanding of how ABA drives the strawberry fruit ripening process as well as the role of miRNAs in this process.