CsMYB6-CsTRY module regulates fruit trichome initiation in cucumber.

5 years ago

CsMYB6-CsTRY module regulates fruit trichome initiation in cucumber.

Min Tang, Yujing Li, Sen Yang, Yiqun Weng, Yaqi Zhang, Xuling Zhai, Mingming Dong, Wenbo Zhang, Shuying Chen, Huazhong Ren, Xingwang Liu, Yanling Cai

The fruit epidermal features such as the number and size of trichomes or spines are important fruit quality traits for cucumber production. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying fruit spine formation in cucumber. Here, we reported functional characterization of the cucumber CsMYB6 gene, which encodes a MIXTA-like MYB transcription factor that is an important player in regulating fruit trichome development in cucumber. Spatial-temporal expression analyses revealed high level expression of CsMYB6 in the epidermis of cucumber ovaries during fruit spine initiation, which was similar to CsTRY, a homolog of the Arabidopsis TRY gene that also plays a key role in trichome development. Overexpression of CsMYB6 and CsTRY in cucumber and Arabidopsis uncovered the roles of CsMYB6 and CsTRY as negative regulators of trichome initiation in both species, and CsMYB6 acted upstream of CsTRY in this process. CsMYB6 was observed to bind to the three MYB binding sites inside the promoter region of CsTRY and protein-protein interaction assays suggested CsTRY also directly interacted with CsMYB6 protein. The results also revealed conserved and divergent roles of CsMYB6 and its Arabidopsis homolog AtMYB106 in trichome development. Collectively, our results reveal a novel mechanism in which CsMYB6-CsTRY complex negatively regulate fruit trichome formation in cucumber.

Publisher URL: http://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ery047

DOI: 10.1093/jxb/ery047