FRUIT SWEETNESS, DEFINED BY THE RATIO OF SUGARS TO ACIDS, IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TRAITS FOR GROWERS AND CONSUMERS. BECAUSE INCREASING SUGAR CONTENTS IN FRUITS RAISES A MAJOR CONCERN FOR HUMAN HEALTH, MANIPULATING FRUIT SWEETNESS BY ALTERING ORGANIC ACID CONCENTRATIONS OR ACIDITY HAS INCREASINGLY BECOME A PRIORITY FOR FRUIT CROP BREEDING. THUS, IT IS NECESSARY TO IDENTIFY MAJOR GENES THAT ARE CRITICAL FOR FRUIT ACIDITY CONTROL. DESPITE SOME PROGRESS MADE IN CLIMACTERIC FRUITS (FOR EXAMPLE, TOMATO, MELON, AND APPLE), GENETIC MECHANISMS OF ACIDITY CONTROL IN NON-CLIMACTERIC FRUITS (INCLUDING STRAWBERRY AND ORANGE) REMAIN LARGELY UNKNOWN.WORK FROM SWEET ORANGES HAS LED TO IDENTIFICATION OF CANDIDATE HUB GENES IN FRUIT ACIDITY CONTROL GENE NETWORKS. OUR PRELIMINARY RESULTS INDICATE THAT ARAL, ONE OF THE HUB GENES WHICH ENCODES A TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR, NEGATIVELY REGULATES FRUIT ACIDITY IN DIPLOID STRAWBERRY YELLOW WONDER 5AF7. IN THIS SEED GRANT PROPOSAL, WE PLAN TO FIRST USE GENETIC APPROACHES TO DEMONSTRATE THAT EXPRESSION LEVEL OF ARAL IS NEGATIVELY CORRELATED WITH STRAWBERRY FRUIT ACIDITY AND THEN USE MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, BIOSTATISTICAL AND BIOINFORMATIC TOOLS TO IDENTIFY THE GENES THAT ARE DIRECTLY TARGETED BY ARAL. WORK FROM THIS PROPOSED PROJECT WILL LEAD TO IDENTIFICATION OF THE FIRST FRUIT ACIDITY CONTROL GENE IN STRAWBERRY AND ALSO PROVIDE TRANSCRIPTIONAL CONTROL MECHANISMS FOR FRUIT ACID ACCUMULATION IN STRAWBERRY FRUITS. THESE FRUIT ACIDITY-RELATED GENES CAN BE USED AS GENETIC TARGETS VIA CLASSICAL BREEDING AND/OR BIOTECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATION FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT OF THE FRUIT SWEETNESS TRAIT. GIVEN THAT STRAWBERRY AND OTHER TYPES OF FRUITS LIKELY SHARE COMMON GENETIC MECHANISMS IN FRUIT ACIDITY CONTROL, RESULTS FROM THIS PROJECT CAN BE EXTENDED TO MANY OTHER FRUIT CROPS. THEREFORE, THE FINDINGS FROM THIS BASIC RESEARCH WILL NOT ONLY ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF FRUIT ACIDITY CONTROL MECHANISMS BUT ALSO BENEFIT THE US AGRICULTURE BY INCREASING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE FRUIT INDUSTRY.

Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York, New York NY

Investigators