The Roles of Floral Organ Genes in Regulating Rosaceae Fruit Development.

Jia-Long Yao,Andrew Peter Gleave,Chunying Kang,Chao Gu

doi:10.3389/fpls.2021.644424

Abstract

The function of floral organ identity genes, APETALA1/2/3, PISTILLATA, AGAMOUS, and SEPALLATA1/2/3, in flower development is highly conserved across angiosperms. Emerging evidence shows that these genes also play important roles in the development of the fruit that originates from floral organs following pollination and fertilization. However, their roles in fruit development may vary significantly between species depending on the floral organ types contributing to the fruit tissues. Fruits of the Rosaceae family develop from different floral organ types depending on the species, for example, peach fruit flesh develops from carpellary tissues, whereas apple and strawberry fruit flesh develop from extra-carpellary tissues, the hypanthium and receptacle, respectively. In this review, we summarize recent advances in understanding floral organ gene function in Rosaceae fruit development and analyze the similarities and diversities within this family as well as between Rosaceae and the model plant species Arabidopsis and tomato. We conclude by suggesting future research opportunities using genomics resources to rapidly dissect gene function in this family of perennial plants.

Highlights

Floral organs are classified into four types, sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels
It is interesting to note that the extreme phenotype of apple transgenic plants over-expressing miR172 displays abnormal flowers without sepals, petals, or stamens, but with separate carpels rather than the fused the carpels of normal apples, and no hypanthium surrounding the ovary (Figure 4; Yao et al, 2015)
If these flowers were to develop into fruit, the fruit would resemble peach rather than apple, indicating miR172/AP2 could be involved in the diversification of fruit types in Rosaceae

Summary

The Roles of Floral Organ Genes in Regulating Rosaceae Fruit Development

Reviewed by: Vicente Balanzà, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain Stefan de Folter, Center for Research and Advanced Studies (CINVESTAV), Mexico. Emerging evidence shows that these genes play important roles in the development of the fruit that originates from floral organs following pollination and fertilization. Their roles in fruit development may vary significantly between species depending on the floral organ types contributing to the fruit tissues. We summarize recent advances in understanding floral organ gene function in Rosaceae fruit development and analyze the similarities and diversities within this family as well as between Rosaceae and the model plant species Arabidopsis and tomato. We conclude by suggesting future research opportunities using genomics resources to rapidly dissect gene function in this family of perennial plants

INTRODUCTION

REGULATING FRUIT DEVELOPMENT

Rosaceae Fruit Development B

REGULATE FRUIT GROWTH

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS