Male Sterility is linked to the Flavonoid Biosynthesis Pathways in Prunus mira.

Shanshan Zhang

doi:10.6026/97320630016363

Abstract

Sterility plays an important role in plant adaptation and evolution and has contributed to the development of high yielding crop hybrids. We used the widely targeted metabolomics profiling to survey the metabolites and biological pathways associated with male sterility in Prunus mira by comparing flowers from fertile and sterile trees. Male sterile flowers displayed abnormal stamen, uncolored anthers, and distorted and shrunken pollen grains with an apparent lack of turgidity. We report 566 metabolites in six flower samples and 140 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) between both flower types. Most of the DAMs belong to the phenyl propanoid biosynthesis pathway, particularly flavonoid, flavone and flavonol biosynthesis pathways, implying that alterations in these key pathways link to male sterility in P. mira. The known link between low levels of flavonoid metabolites, weak expression levels of several structural genes from the phenyl propanoid biosynthesis pathway and hyper accumulation of reactive oxygen species were highlighted for understanding the underlying mechanism leading to the abnormal or aborted pollen grains observed in the sterile flowers. Data on the molecular mechanism of male sterility in Prunus mira will facilitate further in-depth investigations on this important agronomic and ecological trait.

Highlights

IntroductionAmygdalus mira is an important wild fruit tree in China endowed with special economic, medicinal and ecological properties
The male sterile flowers could be visually distinguished from the male fertile flowers by their abnormal stamen and uncolored anthers (Figure 1)
We named as fertile flowers (FF) and sterile flowers (SF) the flower samples from the male fertile and male sterile trees, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Amygdalus mira is an important wild fruit tree in China endowed with special economic, medicinal and ecological properties. It is used for vegetation restoration and soil erosion control in the Tibet plateau [1]. Prunus mira fruit is employed in Chinese traditional medicine as remedy for irregular menstruations, fracture and congestion [2]. The fruit is a reservoir of bioactive nutrients such as vitamins A, B, C, fibers and potassium, phenolic acids and flavonoids. P. mira has the most ornamental value among major wild Prunus species [4]

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