Abstract
Commercial strawberries are mainly propagated using daughter plants produced on aerial runners because asexual propagation is faster than seed propagation, and daughter plants retain the characteristics of the mother plant. This study was conducted to investigate the effective factors for runner induction, as well as the molecular mechanisms behind the runner induction. An orthogonal test with 4 factors (photoperiod, temperature, gibberellin, and 6-benzyladenine), each with 3 levels was performed. Proteins were also extracted from the crowns with or without runners and separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis. The results of the orthogonal test showed that a long-day (LD) environment was the most influential factor for the runner formation, and 50 mg·L−1 of 6-BA significantly increased the number of runners. A proteomic analysis revealed that 32 proteins were differentially expressed (2-fold, p < 0.05) in the strawberry crowns with and without runners. A total of 16 spots were up-regulated in the crowns with runners induced by LD treatment. Identified proteins were classified into seven groups according to their biological roles. The most prominent groups were carbohydrate metabolism and photosynthesis, which indicated that the carbohydrate content may increase during runner formation. A further analysis demonstrated that the soluble sugar content was positively correlated with the number of runners. Thus, it is suggested that the photoperiod and 6-BA break the dormancy of the axillary buds and produce runners by increasing the soluble sugar content in strawberry.
Highlights
Cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is one of the most popular fruits all around the world due to its beautiful appearance, flavor and health benefits
The central element in chlorophyll [54], could affect the RuBisCo activity and is extremely crucial for photosynthesis [55]. These results indicate that photosynthesis was enhanced under the LD condition, which suggests that a greater amount of carbohydrates was produced by photosynthesis
We compared the effects of the photoperiod, temperature, and GA3 and 6-BA concentrations on runner induction in strawberry, and we found that the photoperiod was the most influential factor for runner induction
Summary
Cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is one of the most popular fruits all around the world due to its beautiful appearance, flavor and health benefits. The cultivation and production of strawberry has continuously increased over the last two decades [1]. Strawberries are mainly propagated using daughter plants produced on runners, because asexual production using daughter plants is faster than seed propagation, and daughter plants retain the characteristics of the mother plant [2]. The ability to form runners carries an enormous agricultural importance. Strawberry is a rosette-forming plant, with short stems that are called the primary crown. At the base of each leaflet along the primary crown, there is an axillary meristem (AXM), and these AXMs can either develop into runners and branch crowns, or remain dormant [3]. It has long been observed that wild and cultivated strawberry have antagonistic processes of developing runners and flowers from different meristem crowns. The development of the AXM is extremely important for runner production
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
