作者：Tianxin Chen, Juan Niu, Zhimin Sun, Jing Chen, Yue Wang, Jianhua Chen * and Mingbao Luan *

影响因子：2.976

刊物名称：Current Issues in Molecular Biology

出版年份：2023, 45(6), 4647-4664

doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb45060295

Abstract: Citrus (Citrus reticulata) is one of the world’s most widely planted and highest-yielding fruit trees. Citrus fruits are rich in a variety of nutrients. The content of citric acid plays a decisive role in the flavor quality of the fruit. There is a high organic acid content in early-maturing and extra-precocious citrus varieties. Reducing the amount of organic acid after fruit ripening is significant to the citrus industry. In this study, we selected a low-acid variety, “DF4,” and a high-acid variety, “WZ,” as research materials. Through WGCNA analysis, two differentially expressed genes, citrate synthase (CS) and ATP citrate-pro-S-lyase (ACL), were screened out, which related to the changing citric acid. The two differentially expressed genes were preliminarily verified by constructing a virus-induced gene-silencing (VIGS) vector. The VIGS results showed that the citric acid content was negatively correlated with CS expression and positively correlated with ACL expression, while CS and ACL oppositely control citric acid and inversely regulate each other. These results provide a theoretical basis for promoting the breeding of early-maturing and low-acid citrus varieties.

Fig. Heat map of correlation between WGCNA quality traits and differentially expressed genes. The module with the highest correlation degree was chosen (the color in the figure is red to indicate a correlation degree > 0.7). Figures on the heat map denote correlation and p-value between module and traits. In each module, the upper number represents correlation; the lower number represents p-value.