Molecular mechanisms driving the unusual pigmentation shift during eggplant fruit development.

ABSTRACT: Fruit pigmentation is a major signal that attracts frugivores to enable seed dispersal. In most fleshy fruit, green chlorophyll typically accumulates early in development and is replaced by a range of pigments during ripening. In species such as grape and strawberry, chlorophyll is replaced by red anthocyanins produced by the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Eggplant (Solanum melongena) is unique, as its fruit accumulates anthocyanins beginning from fruit set, and these are later replaced by the yellow flavonoid-pathway intermediate naringenin chalcone. To decipher the genetic regulation of this extraordinary pigmentation shift, we integrated mRNA and microRNA (miRNA) profiling data obtained from developing eggplant fruit. We discovered that SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING-LIKE (i.e., SPL6a, SPL1

SUBMITTER: Panda S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12143153 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature