Abstract
The outermost layer of the plant epidermis is covered by cuticular wax, which resists UV radiation, insects, and pathogens, and protects the plant from various environmental stressors. We cloned MdCER1 to further study the molecular regulatory pathway of cuticular wax in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.). The results showed that MdCER1 is a homolog of Arabidopsis CER1, which is essential for wax synthesis. A subcellular localization study revealed that MdCER1 was localized on the endoplasmic reticulum. We examined the expression pattern of MdCER1 in different tissues and found that it was constitutively expressed in roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits, with the highest expression in leaves. Ectopic expression of MdCER1 promoted the accumulation of cuticular wax by changing the permeability of the epidermis and the response to abscisic acid, as well as by improving drought resistance in Arabidopsis.
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Abbreviations
- ACP:
-
Acyl carrier protein
- DHS:
-
DROUGHT HYPERSENSITIVE
- cer :
-
Eceriferum
- ECR:
-
Trans-2-enoyl-CoA reductase
- ER:
-
Endoplasmic reticulum
- FAR:
-
Fatty acyl-coenzyme A reductase
- LACS:
-
Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase
- KCS:
-
3-Ketoacyl coenzyme A synthase
- Os-BDG:
-
Os-BODYGUARD
- qRT-PCR:
-
Quantitative real-time PCR
- VLCFA:
-
Very long chain fatty acid
- WIN1/SHN1:
-
WAX INDUCER1/SHINE1
- WSL4:
-
Wax crystal-sparse leaf 4
- SEM:
-
Scanning electron microscopy
- TB:
-
Toluidine blue
- EV:
-
Empty vector
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Acknowledgements
This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31772275) and the Natural Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars of Shandong Province (ZR2018JL014).
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Y-JH and Y-YL planned and designed the research. C-HQ, X-YZ, HJ and H-TL performed the experiments and analyzed the data. C-HQ, and Y-YL wrote the manuscript.
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Communicated by Wenwu Guo.
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Qi, CH., Zhao, XY., Jiang, H. et al. Isolation and functional identification of an apple MdCER1 gene. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 136, 1–13 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-018-1504-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-018-1504-8