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Examining preharvest genetic and morphological factors contributing to lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) shelf life

ABSTRACT: Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is a highly perishable horticultural crop with a relatively short shelf life due to leaf senescence that limits its commercial value and contributes to food waste. Postharvest senescence varies with influences of both environmental and genetic factors. Preharvest genetic factors can be indicative of postharvest quality. Discovery of additional preharvest markers to assess lettuce shelf life is an important step towards increasing the efficiency of lettuce breeding efforts for improved shelf life. We selected and evaluated three romaine lettuces with variable shelf lives with the aim of identifying preharvest markers of lettuce postharvest shelf life. We evaluated leaf morphological characteristics for each of the three cultivars. To assess molecular indicators of shelf life, we used an RNA sequencing approach to construct transcriptomic profiles of two of the cultivars, a short shelf life (SSL) breeding line 60184 and a long shelf life (LSL) cultivar ‘Okeechobee’ at maturity. We identified 552 upregulated and 315 downregulated differentially expressed (DE) genes between the genotypes. We found that 27 % of the DE lettuce genes had an Arabidopsis thaliana ortholog characterized as senescence-associated, indicating that variable expression of senescence-associated genes (SAGs) could serve as a tool for preharvest markers of postharvest shelf life. Notably, we identified several SAGs and functional groupings with highly differential expression between the cultivars. This includes several jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ), jasmonic acid (JA) signaling genes, chlorophyll a-b binding (CAB) chloroplast-associated genes, and cell wall modification genes including pectate lyases (PL) and expansins (EXP). This study presented an innovative approach for identifying molecular markers for preharvest factors linked to postharvest traits for prolonged shelf. These genes could potentially be developed further as preharvest predictors of shelf life for lettuce breeding

ORGANISM(S): Lactuca sativa

PROVIDER: GSE226302 | GEO | 2024/02/27

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Molecular events regulating apple fruit ripening and sensory quality are largely unknown. Such knowledge is essential for genomic-assisted apple breeding and postharvest quality management. In this study, a parallel transcriptome profile analysis, scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination and systematic physiological characterization were performed on two apple cultivars, Honeycrisp (HC) and Cripps Pink (CP), which have distinct ripening features and texture attributes. Systematic physiological characterization of fruit ripening based on weekly maturity data indicated substantial differences in fruit crispness and firmness at comparable ripening stages. SEM images of fruit cortex tissues prepared from fruits with equivalent maturity suggested that the cell wall thickness may contribute to the observed phenotypes of fruit firmness and crispness. A high-density long-oligo apple microarray consisting of duplex 190,135 cross-hybridization-free 50-70-mer isothermal probes, and representing 23,997 UniGene clusters, was manufactured on a Nimblegen array platform. Transcriptome profiling identified a total of 1793 and 1209 UniGene clusters differentially expressed during ripening from cortex tissues of HC and CP, respectively. UniGenes implicated in hormone metabolism and response, cell wall biosynthesis and modification and those encoding transcription factors were among the prominent functional groups. Between the two cultivars, most of the identified UniGenes were similarly regulated during fruit ripening; however, a short list of gene families or specific family members exhibited distinct expression patterns between the two cultivars, which may represent candidate genes regulating cultivar-specific apple fruit ripening patterns and quality attributes. Using a single color labeling system, a total of 24 microarray slides were utilized, one for each cortex tissue sample, for transcriptome profiling analysis. 2 cultivars x 3 developmental stages x 4 biological replicates.

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Examining preharvest genetic and morphological factors contributing to lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) shelf life

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