Two gene switches drive bitterness in melons treated with fruit-setting hormone
Luo F, Tang H, Han Y, Zhen L, Wei R
Crispr
If you grow melons and have ever bitten into a bitter one, this work identifies the genetic switches behind that harsh taste, and breeders can now target them to produce sweeter fruit.
Some melons turn bitter because of a compound called cucurbitacin B. Growers often spray a hormone called CPPU to help fruit set, and it triggers a team of gene switches that ramp up the bitter compound. When scientists disabled one of those switches with gene editing, bitterness dropped by about 30 percent, which gives breeders a clear target for non-bitter melons.
Key Findings
Melon plants lacking the CmWRKY13 gene had about 30% less cucurbitacin B than normal plants under 20 mg per liter CPPU treatment.
CmWRKY13 switches on the CmBr gene, a main regulator of bitterness, by binding its promoter and physically interacting with the CmBr protein.
CPPU specifically induces CmMYB6, which binds the CmWRKY13 promoter and partners with its protein to boost bitterness gene expression; cmmyb6 mutants and cmmyb6 cmwrky13 double mutants confirmed the CmMYB6-CmWRKY13-CmBr cascade controls cucurbitacin B buildup.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers mapped a chain of three genes that turns up the bitter compound cucurbitacin B in melons treated with a fruit-setting hormone. Knocking out two of the switches lowered bitterness, pointing toward breeding melons that taste better even when treated.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
The CmMYB6-CmWRKY13-CmBr module mediates cucurbitacin B accumulation in melon fruit under CPPU treatment.
Cucurbitacin B (CuB), a key compound responsible for the bitterness of melon fruit, significantly reduces fruit quality and consumer acceptance. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanism und...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to Cucumis melo, commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the plant and its fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of be...