Journal
HORTICULTURE RESEARCH
Volume 9, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/hr/uhac122
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- National Key Research and Development Program of China [2019YFD 1000100]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [31872080]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Drought is a major threat to apple fruit production and quality. Knocking down GH3 genes in apple using the RNAi approach improves drought tolerance without sacrificing yield and quality.
Drought poses a major threat to apple fruit production and quality. Because of the apple's long juvenile phase, developing varieties with improved drought tolerance using biotechnology approaches is needed. Here, we used the RNAi approach to knock down six GH3 genes in the apple. Under prolonged drought stress, the MdGH3 RNAi plants performed better than wild-type plants and had stronger root systems, higher root-to-shoot ratio, greater hydraulic conductivity, increased photosynthetic capacity, and increased water use efficiency. Moreover, MdGH3 RNAi plants promoted the drought tolerance of the scion when they were used as rootstock, compared with wild-type and M9-T337 rootstocks. Scions grafted onto MdGH3 RNAi plants showed increased plant height, stem diameter, photosynthetic capacity, specific leaf weight, and water use efficiency. The use of MdGH3 RNAi plants as rootstocks can also increase the C/N ratio of the scion and achieve the same effect as the M9-T337 rootstock in promoting the flowering and fruiting of the scion. Notably, using MdGH3 RNAi plants as rootstocks did not reduce fruit weight and scion quality compared with using M9-T337 rootstock. Our research provides candidate genes and demonstrates a general approach that could be used to improve the drought tolerance of fruit trees without sacrificing the yield and quality of scion fruits.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available