Effects of exogenous application of plant growth regulators on the development of ovule and subsequent embryo rescue of stenospermic grape (Vitis vinifera L.)

Seedless grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.) are widely grown in Europe, America and Asia. Abortion of zygotic embryos in seedless grapes largely limits the efficiency of breeding of seedless cultivars through genetic crossing. The present study was designed to investigate effects of exogenously applied plant growth regulators (PGRs) to the grapevines in field condition on ovule and subsequent embryo rescue of seedless grapes of small seed traces. First experiment was performed by measuring ovules weight, proportion of each category ovules in maturity and embryo development in vitro of seedless grape cv. Centennial Seedless, Thompson Seedless and Crimson Seedless sprayed by chlormequat (CCC), benzyladenine (BA), ethephon (CEPA) and putrescine (Put). The effects of different application concentration and date of CCC were further evaluated in Centennial Seedless in later experiment. The results showed that exogenous application of all PGRs did not affect the total number of ovules per berries in maturity. CCC increased the ovules weight and proportion of ovules >4 mm in length of three varieties in maturity. The effects of two application times of PGRs on weight of berries and ovules and proportion of each category ovules in maturity were not significantly different. In the proceeding of embryo rescue, CCC at 100 and 1000 mg l⁻¹, BA at 100 mg l⁻¹ and Put at 20 mg l⁻¹ increased the percentage of developed embryos of Centennial Seedless and Thompson Seedless. The results showed that the size of ovules excised for embryo rescue significantly affected embryo formation and plant regeneration. The percentage of embryos formation in ovules >4 mm in length was significantly more than in ovules 2–4 mm in length, no embryo was found in ovules <2 mm in length. Exogenous application of CCC at 100–500 mg l⁻¹ significantly increased percentage of ovules >2 mm in length by 80.0–82.7% in Centennial Seedless, therefore improving embryo formation. The statistical correlation was found between the proportion of ovules >2 mm and embryo formation (r = 0.92) in Centennial Seedless. Among the different spraying time in Centennial Seedless, CCC applied 14 days before bloom produced significantly more ovules >2 mm in length and embryos formation.     

Breeding of disease-resistant seedless grapes using Chinese wild Vitis spp.: I. In vitro embryo rescue and plant development

Seedless grape cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.) are widely grown in Europe, America and Asia. Fungal diseases are a great threat of them. Several wild Chinese Vitis species showed high resistance to many fungal diseases. Therefore, an investigation was conducted to assess the potential to incorporate these species in a breeding project for development of the disease-resistant seedless cultivars. Hybridization was conducted using V. vinifera as female parents and the wild Chinese Vitis spp. as male parents. In-ovulo embryo rescue was used to develop hybrid plants from the seedless females. An efficient protocol is reported here for the in vitro embryo rescue and plant development from the cross Emerald Seedless × Beichun. Ovules were excised from immature fruits 7 weeks after pollination (WAP) and cultured in the double-phase ER medium supplemented with 6.0% sucrose and 0.3% activated charcoal (AC). Following 8–12 weeks of culture, embryos were removed from the ovules and transferred onto WPM supplemented with 1.0 μM 6-benzyladenine (6-BA), 2.0% sucrose and 0.2% AC and solidified with 0.6% agar. After 8 weeks of culture, the embryos germinated and subsequently grew into whole plantlets. With the optimized parameters developed in the present study, about 34.0%, 91.2% and 77.4% of embryo formation, embryo germination and plant development were obtained, respectively. When this protocol was applied to 11 other cross combinations, genotype was found to significantly influence embryo formation, embryo germination and plant development, with different frequencies of hybrid plants successfully obtained in all crosses.     

Investigating the most effective factors in the embryo rescue technique for use with ‘Flame Seedless’ grapevine (Vitis vinifera)

Embryo rescue is among the most important techniques used in seedless grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) breeding and is applied to the female parent. A variety of factors that affect embryo development and germination, as well as plantlet production, in the seedless grapevine cultivar ‘Flame Seedless’ were investigated. The results showed that using Nitsch and Nitsch (NN) medium rather than Emershad and Ramming (ER) medium for double-phase rather than solid phase media produced better developed embryos (DE; 47.49% compared to 24.85%, and 40.69% compared to 31.66%, respectively) and germinated embryos (GE; 28.46% compared to 19.16%, and 29.71% compared to 17.91%, respectively). Preceding embryo rescue, pre-treatment of grapevine clusters with 0.34 mM putrescine (Put) or 0.82 mM cycocel (CCC) increased the percentages of DE and GE. The results indicated that 1.0 mM spermine (Spm), 0.5 mM spermidine (Spd), or 1.0 mM Put in NN culture medium increased the percentages of DE and GE. Using Woody Plant Medium (WPM) as the secondary medium gave higher percentages of GE and developed plantlets (DP) than using Gamborg (B5) medium or Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium.     

Mechanism of seedlessness in Iranian seedless barberry (Berberis vulgaris L. var. asperma)

Species of barberry (Berberis vulgaris L. var. asperma) is cultivated in arid and semi arid areas of Iran (South Khorasan province). It is widely used as a food additive. Fruits of this species are seedless, while wild type barberries produce seeds in the same area. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of seedlessness in seedless barberry by pollen viability test, field pollination experiments and microscopic observation of pollen tube growth in pistil and ovule development. For comparison, we also examined ovule development in wild type barberry (B. crataegina DC). In seedless barberry pollen germination was about 54%. Seedless barberry produced 20% seeded fruits when pollinated with pollen of wild type barberry. There was a sharp decrease in fruit set in emasculated unpollinated flowers of seedless barberry. In seedless barberry, a large number of pollen grains (about 370) were observed on stigma of each flower at 12 h after balloon stage (ABS). Most of them germinated and penetrated intracellular area of stigma surface, but no pollen tube reached ovary. In seedless barberry, many ovules did not have any embryo sac or had a very small incomplete embryo sac. In addition, unfused polar nuclei were clearly recognized in some cases at 14 days after full bloom (AFB). However, in wild type, double fertilization was accompanied by disappearance of polar nuclei. In seeded barberry, the cellularized endosperm became apparent at seven days AFB. At 21 days AFB, all ovules of seedless barberry were degenerated, while at the same time in wild type, one or two ovules of each flower were normal and were developing into complete seeds. Results showed that self-incompatibility has a main role in seedlessness of seedless barberry. However, the high frequency of abnormal ovules and single fertilization can be considered as two other reasons of seedlessness. Due to our results, fruits of seedless barberry were set by stimulative parthenocarpy.     

The effect of sucrose on the expression of the VvTFL1 and VFL genes during flower development in the “Xiangfei” grapevine

VFL and VvTFL1 genes expression patterns and the effects of sucrose on the expression of VFL and VvTFL1 genes in different organs of the “Xiangfei” grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) were investigated. VvTFL1 gene expression was detected in the meristem of the apical bud and lateral bud, but was not detected during inflorescence differentiation and flower organ development. After sucrose treatment, VvTFL1 gene expression increased in the apical bud, but decreased in the lateral bud. These results suggested that the VvTFL1 gene might be mainly involved in the apical growth process of shoots, and exogenous sucrose had an effect on the VvTFL1 gene by increasing shoot apical meristem initiation of apical buds. The VFL gene was expressed primarily during inflorescence differentiation and early flower organ development, but it gradually reduced in later flower development. After sucrose treatment, VFL gene expression increased in the inflorescence and small or middle flower, but a little change was seen in the large flower. These results suggested that the VFL gene plays important roles in the initiation of inflorescence meristems and the morphological formation of flower organs. Exogenous sucrose had an effect on VFL gene expression at the early stage of flower development.     

Defense response of tomato fruit at different maturity stages to salicylic acid and ethephon

In order to elucidate whether fruit maturity stage influence the induced resistance of exogenous elicitors in tomato and the involved mechanisms, we investigated the defense responses of tomato fruits against Botrytis cinerea, ethylene production and internal quality following treatments of fruit with salicylic acid (SA) or ethephon (ET) at mature green (MG) and breaker (BR). SA significantly suppressed decay and disease incidence in tomato fruits at both MG and BR stages, along with higher expression level of PR1 gene after 2 days of treatment. All fruits treated by SA had lower contents of ethylene and lycopene. The ET-treated fruit at both maturity stages showed lower disease incidence and higher level of PR2 and PR3 expression compared with the control fruit. ET treatment significantly enhanced ethylene and lycopene contents, and accelerated fruit ripening. Our results suggest that SA and ET induced disease resistance in fruits by mediating the expression of different pathogenesis-related genes and have different effects on fruit ripening, which in turn influences the disease resistance of tomato fruits.     

葡萄无核性状遗传与胚挽救技术的研究及应用

葡萄无核性状遗传以及无核葡萄胚挽救技术是葡萄无核育种领域的研究热点之一,无核葡萄胚挽救技术已经成为葡萄无核育种主要手段,在无核葡萄育种中发挥了重要作用。胚挽救技术的发展和应用,突破了传统的无核葡萄育种方法,极大地拓宽了葡萄无核品种育种的范围和效率。综述了近年来关于无核葡萄的类型、无核性状的遗传以及现在生产上应用的无核葡萄无核性的来源,胚挽救技术在培育葡萄无核品种、克服远缘杂交不亲和性、缩短育种周期等方面的研究和应用。同时,对影响胚挽救成功的因素如品种、培养基类型及成分、接种时期及珠被处理等进行了探讨。最后对葡萄胚挽救技术目前存在的问题和今后该领域的研究方向进行了展望。     

黄瓜RAV基因家族的全基因组分析

AP2/EREBP转录因子中的RAV基因家族在植物的发育过程中发挥着重要的调控作用。利用公布的黄瓜基因组数据库CuGI,发现黄瓜基因组中存在4个RAV基因,其蛋白序列均具有完整的AP2和B3结构域|对黄瓜、拟南芥、水稻和葡萄RAV蛋白进行多序列联配,结果表明该基因家族具有高度保守性|系统发生树结合基序分析发现,进化树亚族内各成员的基序组成相似|半定量RT-PCR结果显示,4个黄瓜RAV基因的表达广泛分布于各个组织。     

接种时期和培养基对无核葡萄胚挽救的影响

以4个组合康能无核×金星无核、雷明无核×金星无核、金星无核自交、雷蒙无核自交为试材, 采用L25 (55 ) 正交设计, 研究了接种时间和培养基种类对无核葡萄胚挽救的影响。结果表明, 影响无核葡萄胚挽救最重要的因素是接种时期, 其他因素影响程度因组合而不同, 最佳接种时期在花后45～60 d,最高出苗率13.64%～75.23%。对胚珠进行一定处理有助于促进胚珠的萌发出苗, 其中横切处理与低温处理可以显著提高胚珠萌发出苗率。     

无核葡萄与中国野生葡萄杂种的胚挽救技术研究

 通过无核葡萄与中国野生葡萄杂交, 获得了4个杂交组合的后代植株, 确定了各杂交组合取胚珠培养的最佳时期。1Flame ×山葡萄; 2红宝石×爱莫无核; 3红宝石×北醇; 4爱莫无核×山葡萄在授粉后45 d取样培养效果较佳; 5长穗无核白×山葡萄授粉后30 d; 6无核白自交在授粉后35 d培养效果较佳。以NitSchs为基本培养基, 附加0.5 mg·L ^{- 1} 6-BA + 0.5 mg·L^-1 GA₃ + 2.5 mg·L ^{- 1} IBA + 0.1 mg·L^-1ZT, 适合于1、3、5号杂交组合; 而0.5 mg·L^-1 6-BA + 0.5 mg·L^-1 GA₃ + 2.0 mg·L^-1 IBA + 0.1 mg·L^-1ZT适合2、4、6号杂交组合; 胚萌发培养基为2.0 mg·L^-1 IBA + 1.0 mg·L^-1 6-BA +0.2 mg·L^-1 GA₃ , 适合1、2、3、5、6号杂交组合, 而爱莫×山葡萄在1.5 mg·L ^{- 1} IBA + 1.0 mg·L^-1 6-BA + 0.2 mg·L^-1 GA₃培养基上表现较佳, 生根培养基为1 /2MS基本培养基添加0.15 mg·L^-1 IBA + 0.02 mg·L^-1 6-BA, 它适合1号与5号组合, 0.10 mg·L^-1 IBA + 0.02 mg·L^-1 6-BA适合4号与6号组合。     

Studies on Plant Growth - Regulating Substances: IV. The Activity of Certain Aryloxy Acids for Inducing Rooting and for Tomato Setting

A wide range of synthetic chemicals has been prepared and examined for activity in promoting the rooting of cuttings and for inducing seedless development of tomato fruits. In rooting experiments, both tomato leaves and privet cuttings were used as test material.

The results are examined and it is shown that in the main they conform to suggestions, previously put forward concerning growth-regulating activity in relation to chemical structure.     

GA_3诱导枇杷无核的组织解剖学观察

为了阐明GA3处理枇杷导致无核的原因,以枇杷品种大五星为材料,采用石蜡切片法和花粉发芽试验等方法分别对花前经GA3处理枇杷花穗后的枇杷胚胎发育过程进行了研究。结果表明,1)枇杷的胚珠为倒生胚珠,双珠被,核型胚乳;2)花前用GA3处理枇杷导致无核的原因主要在于胚乳败育或者珠心退化导致胚退化,由于胚乳败育使胚发育所需要的营养不足,引起合子胚分裂异常,最终胚解体退化。但珠被在初期能够发育,所以形成败育种子(秕子)。     

Effects of deficit irrigation strategies on cluster microclimate for improving fruit composition of Moscatel field-grown grapevines

The grapevine plays a very important role in the economic, social and cultural sectors of many regions; however vineyards are often grown in regions under stressful conditions and thus they are vulnerable to climate change. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of partial root-zone drying (PRD) irrigation on vine water relations, vegetative growth, plant microclimate, berry composition and yield components, compared to conventional deficit irrigation (DI, 50% ETc), full irrigation (FI, 100% of ETc) and non-irrigated vines (NI). The study was undertaken in mature ‘Moscatel’ grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) grown in Pegões, South of Portugal. Compared to the other irrigated treatments, PRD vines showed a better microclimate at the cluster zone with higher incident photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD). Within the more open canopies of NI and PRD treatments, berry temperatures were higher than those of denser ones (DI and FI). Compared to the conventional irrigation technique the better microclimate observed in PRD vines was a consequence of a reduction in vine growth, where lower values of leaf layer number, leaf area, canopy wideness, water shoots and shoot weight were observed. In PRD vines we observed a tendency to a development of a deeper root system, while DI and FI showed a more homogeneous root distribution throughout the different soil layers. PRD showed an improvement in berry quality with higher values of flavour precursors, and total phenols concentration without any significant yield reduction compared to DI and FI.     

病毒诱导的基因沉默在番茄组织中的特异性分析

 病毒诱导的基因沉默（VIGS）是植物基因功能研究的新技术。以组成型表达gusA基因的转基因番茄为材料,通过VIGS技术沉默gusA基因,对VIGS在番茄中的组织特异性进行了初步分析。结果表明,VIGS技术能有效地诱导gusA基因在番茄植株的叶片、花、果实、侧枝、主茎及茎分枝点等部位和组织中沉默,证明VIGS在番茄中具有较强的系统性沉默特征。     

Somatic embryogenesis in a broad spectrum of grape genotypes

Somatic embryogenesis is the preferred method for cell-to-plant regeneration of grapevine. In this study, we tested the embryogenic capacity of anther-derived calli from 59 grape genotypes, representing a diverse group of Vitis vinifera and hybrid varieties, and hybrids and accessions of non-vinifera Vitis species. Most genotypes were tested on two types of media: MST1 medium, which contained plant growth regulators (PGRs) 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and thidiazuron (TDZ), and MSE medium, which contained 2,4-D and 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). Twenty-four of the grape genotypes produced embryogenic callus on one or both of these media, eighteen of which have not been reported to form somatic embryos before. The results also suggested that the various PGR combinations are differentially effective at inducing somatic embryos in various classes of grape genotypes. For example, seven of the eight V. vinifera conv. occidentalis varieties brought forth somatic embryos on MSE medium, and three out of four American Vitis genotypes produced somatic embryos on MST1 medium. We could not observe any apparent association between frequency of callus formation and embryogenic capacity of the anthers.     

南丰蜜橘无核成因的研究

 观察和分析南丰蜜橘[Citrus reticulata Blanco var. kinokuni（Tanaka）H. H. Hu]的花粉育性、成熟胚囊结构以及胚胎发育情况,探讨其产生无核现象的原因。结果表明：南丰蜜橘的花粉具有一定的生活力和萌发率,属于中育性花粉;南丰蜜橘胚囊发育正常;授粉4周后大部分合子胚发育停滞并且出现败育迹象;饱满种子在授粉8周后胚发育到心形胚阶段时,部分种子的胚乳开始瓦解,到授粉16周后退化形成瘪籽和痕迹,另一部分发育成正常种子和充满胚乳的饱满种子;到成熟期时,小果系、早熟系南丰蜜橘种子全部退化,大果系南丰蜜橘种子大部退化,形成无核果实。胚胎早期败育是南丰蜜橘无核的主要原因。