Dataset Information

An acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo ssp. ovifera) fruit and seed transcriptome as a resource for the study of fruit traits in Cucurbita.

ABSTRACT: Acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo) is an iconic fall vegetable in the United States, known for its unique fruit shape and also prized for its culinary properties. Little is known about the metabolism that underlies the development of fruit quality attributes such as color, sweetness, texture and nutritional qualities in acorn squash, or any other winter squash grown worldwide. To provide insight into winter squash fruit and seed development and add to the genomic resources in the Cucurbita genus, RNA sequencing was used to generate an acorn squash fruit and seed transcriptome from the cultivar Sweet REBA at critical points throughout fruit development. 141 838 600 high-quality paired-end Illumina reads were assembled into 55 949 unigenes. 85% of unigenes with predicted open reading frames had homology with previously identified genes and over 62% could be functionally annotated. Comparison with the watermelon and cucumber genomes provided confirmation that the unigenes are full-length and comprehensive, covering an average of 90% of the coding sequence of their homologs and 72% of the cucumber and watermelon exomes. Key candidate genes associated with carotenoid and carbohydrate metabolism were identified toward a resource for winter squash fruit quality trait dissection. This transcriptome represents a major advance in C. pepo genomics, providing significant new sequence information and revealing the repertoire of genes expressed throughout winter squash fruit and seed development. Future studies on the genetic basis of fruit quality and future breeding efforts will be enhanced by tools and insights developed from this resource.

SUBMITTER: Wyatt LE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4595981 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo ssp. ovifera) fruit and seed transcriptome as a resource for the study of fruit traits in Cucurbita.

Wyatt Lindsay E LE Strickler Susan R SR Mueller Lukas A LA Mazourek Michael M

Horticulture research 20150128

Acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo) is an iconic fall vegetable in the United States, known for its unique fruit shape and also prized for its culinary properties. Little is known about the metabolism that underlies the development of fruit quality attributes such as color, sweetness, texture and nutritional qualities in acorn squash, or any other winter squash grown worldwide. To provide insight into winter squash fruit and seed development and add to the genomic resources in the Cucurbita genus, RNA ...[more]

PMID: 26504561

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Project description:We have identified a kind of parthenocarpy in zucchini squash which is associated with an incomplete andromonoecy, i.e. a partial conversion of female into bisexual flowers. Given that andromonoecy in this and other cucurbit species is caused by a reduction of ethylene production in the female flower, the associated parthenocarpic development of the fruit suggested the involvement of ethylene in fruit set and early fruit development.We have compared the production of ethylene as well as the expression of 13 ethylene biosynthesis and signalling genes in pollinated and unpollinated ovaries/fruits of two cultivars, one of which is parthenocarpic (Cavili), while the other is non-parthenocarpic (Tosca). In the latter, unpollinated ovaries show an induction of ethylene biosynthesis and ethylene signal transduction pathway genes three days after anthesis, which is concomitant with the initiation of fruit abortion and senescence. Fruit set and early fruit development in pollinated flowers of both cultivars and unpollinated flowers of Cavili is coupled with low ethylene biosynthesis and signalling, which would also explain the partial andromonoecy in the parthenocarpic genotype. The reduction of ethylene production in the ovary cosegregates with parthenocarpy and partial andromonoecy in the selfing progeny of Cavili. Moreover, the induction of ethylene in anthesis (by ethephon treatments) reduced the percentage of bisexual parthenocarpic flowers in Cavili, while the inhibition of ethylene biosynthesis or response (by AVG and STS treatments) induces not only andromonoecy but also the parthenocarpic development of the fruit in both cultivars.Results demonstrate that a reduction of ethylene production or signalling in the zucchini flower is able to induce fruit set and early fruit development, and therefore that ethylene is actively involved in fruit set and early fruit development. Auxin and TIBA treatments, inducing fruit set and early fruit development in this species, also inhibit ethylene production and the expression of ethylene biosynthesis and response genes. A model is presented that discusses the crosstalk between ethylene and auxin in the control of fruit set and early fruit development in zucchini squash.

Dataset Information

An acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo ssp. ovifera) fruit and seed transcriptome as a resource for the study of fruit traits in Cucurbita.

Publications

An acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo ssp. ovifera) fruit and seed transcriptome as a resource for the study of fruit traits in Cucurbita.

Similar Datasets

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