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Genome Size
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Date performed
2023
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Publication
Abstract
Background: Peach (Prunus persica) is an economically important fruit crop globally and an excellent material for genomic studies. While considerable progress has been made in unveiling trait-associated genes within cultivars and wild relatives, certain novel genes controlling valuable traits in peach landraces, such as the red-flowering gene, remained unclear
Results: In this study, the diploid genome of the red-flower landrace ‘Yingzui’ (abbreviated as ‘RedY’) was sequenced and assembled. Multi-omics profiling of red petals of ‘RedY’ revealed that intensified red coloration is associated with anthocyanins accumulation and concurrent decline in flavonols, which is likely attributed to a natural variant of Flavonol Synthase (FLS) harboring a 9-bp exonic insertion. The homozygous allelic configurations of this FLS variant were only observed in red-flowered peaches, and the 9-bp sequence variation was tightly associated with pink/red petal color in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of collected peach germplasm resources. Functional analyses showed that the FLS variant has diminished enzymatic activity in flavonols biosynthesis, which aligns with the red-flower trait.
Conclusions: The natural FLS variant was proposed as the best candidate gene for the red-flowering trait in peach. The unveiling of the red-flowered peach genome and the identification of the candidate gene expanded the knowledge of the genetic basis of peach traits and provided valuable insights for future peach breeding efforts.
