The molecular regulation of axillary bud fate determination and outgrowth into branch crown in strawberry involves BRC1.
Alonso M, Prévost P, Potier A, Martin PG, Caraglio Y
Crispr
Every strawberry runner your plants send out this summer — those arching stems that root and make free daughter plants — depends on a single gene making the right call at each bud.
Strawberry plants can grow in two very different directions from their side buds: they can send out long creeping stems called runners that root and make new plants, or they can put up flowering stems instead. Researchers found a single gene, BRC1, acts like a traffic controller that steers buds toward becoming runners rather than flowers. When they switched this gene off using a precise gene-editing tool, the plants stopped making runners entirely and flowered instead — proving BRC1 is the key decision-maker.
Key Findings
FveBRC1 is required for axillary buds to develop into stolons (runners); CRISPR knockout mutants produced branch crowns (flowering stems) instead of runners
RNA sequencing of morphologically identical, undifferentiated buds across three genotypes revealed distinct gene-expression signatures that predict bud fate before any visible difference appears
Applying gibberellin hormone externally could not rescue stolon formation in brc1 mutants, placing FveBRC1 downstream of or parallel to gibberellin signaling in the fate-determination pathway
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered that a gene called BRC1 in wild strawberry acts as a master switch, deciding whether a side bud grows into a runner (stolon) that creates a new plant, or a flowering branch instead. Disabling this gene with CRISPR editing caused plants to flower rather than spread by runners, revealing BRC1 is essential for vegetative reproduction.
Abstract Preview
In strawberry, the axillary bud (AXB) can produce either an elongated stem called stolon giving a daughter-plant (asexual reproduction) or an inflorescence-bearing branch crown (BC; sexual reproduc...
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Fragaria vesca, commonly called the woodland strawberry, Alpine strawberry, wild strawberry, Carpathian strawberry or European strawberry, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the rose family that grows naturally throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, and that produces edible fruits.