A yellow green peel mutant (ygp) in cucumber was caused by a mutation in Csa2G352940 encoding MYB36 transcription factor. Peel color is one of the important agronomic traits of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). However, studies on the molecular regulation mechanism of peel color in cucumber are few. In this study, a cucumber yellow green peel mutant (ygp) of cucumber mutagenized with ethylmethylsulfone by using a wild type cucumber with dark green peel was identified. Pigment measurements indicated that the chlorophyll content of the ygp mutant was less than that of the wild type. Genetic analysis revealed that the phenotype of the ygp mutant was monogenic recessive inheritance. MutMap and genotyping results demonstrated that Csa2G352940 (CsMYB36), encoding the transcription factor MYB36, was the causal gene of the ygp mutant in cucumber. CsMYB36 was downregulated in the fruit of the ygp mutant. Transcriptome profile analysis of the fruit peel of the ygp mutant identified 92 candidate genes including genes that encode Casparian strip (CsCASP1) and pigment synthesis protein (CsMYC2) involved in peel color development in cucumber. CsMYB36 may regulate yellow green coloration in cucumber by interacting with these genes. Overall, these results showed that CsMYB36 can regulate the yellow green peel coloration in cucumber.

Dwarf mutations have played vital roles in elucidating the regulatory molecular mechanisms of plant height. In this study, we identified a mutant named Csdw, whose mutagenesis was induced by ethyl methyl sulfonate in cucumber, and this mutant exhibited a dwarf phenotype with a reduced internode length because of the reduction of cell division in the main stem. The dwarf phenotype of Csdw could be partially rescued through GA application, and endogenous GA levels from the stem of Csdw decreased distinctly. Genetic analysis showed that Csdw was attributed to a recessive gene. The MutMap and Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR genotyping results revealed that Csa3G872760 (CsCLAVATA1), encoding a CLAVATA1-type receptor-like kinase, was a putative candidate gene for dwarf mutation in cucumber. The expression of CsCLAVATA1 in the stem of Csdw was lower than that of wild-type plants. Therefore, CsCLAVATA1 could regulate the dwarf phenotype in cucumber.

IntroductionIndigofera L. is the third largest genus in Fabaceae and includes economically important species that are used for indigo dye-producing, medicinal, ornamental, and soil and water conservation. The genus is taxonomically difficult due to the high level of overlap in morphological characters of interspecies, fewer reliability states for classification, and extensive adaptive evolution. Previous characteristic-based taxonomy and nuclear ITS-based phylogenies have contributed to our understanding of Indigofera taxonomy and evolution. However, the lack of chloroplast genomic resources limits our comprehensive understanding of the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary processes of Indigofera.MethodsHere, we newly assembled 18 chloroplast genomes of Indigofera. We performed a series of analyses of genome structure, nucleotide diversity, phylogenetic analysis, species pairwise Ka/Ks ratios, and positive selection analysis by combining with allied species in Papilionoideae.Results and discussionThe chloroplast genomes of Indigofera exhibited highly conserved structures and ranged in size from 157,918 to 160,040 bp, containing 83 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. Thirteen highly variable regions were identified, of which trnK-rbcL, ndhF-trnL, and ycf1 were considered as candidate DNA barcodes for species identification of Indigofera. Phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods based on complete chloroplast genome and protein-coding genes (PCGs) generated a well-resolved phylogeny of Indigofera and allied species. Indigofera monophyly was strongly supported, and four monophyletic lineages (i.e., the Pantropical, East Asian, Tethyan, and Palaeotropical clades) were resolved within the genus. The species pairwise Ka/Ks ratios showed values lower than 1, and 13 genes with significant posterior probabilities for codon sites were identified in the positive selection analysis using the branch-site model, eight of which were associated with photosynthesis. Positive selection of accD suggested that Indigofera species have experienced adaptive evolution to selection pressures imposed by their herbivores and pathogens. Our study provided insight into the structural variation of chloroplast genomes, phylogenetic relationships, and adaptive evolution in Indigofera. These results will facilitate future studies on species identification, interspecific and intraspecific delimitation, adaptive evolution, and the phylogenetic relationships of the genus Indigofera.

S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activity (SAMDC) is a key enzyme involved in biosynthesis of the polyamines, viz. spermidine and spermine. In the present study, SAMDC gene analogues from 14 species of 6 genera in Cruciferae were obtained by PCR strategy using specific primers designed from conserved regions of SAMDC gene reported in the GenBank. The phylogenetic relationships of these species belonging to the family Cruciferae were investigated through comparison of the genes. Homologous sequences of SAMDC comparison indicated that the similarities among the genes at nucleotide and amino acid levels were over 87% and 90%, respectively. The differences in genes at nucleotide and amino acid levels between species ranged from 0.2 % to 10.1 % and 0.3% to 6.6%, respectively, while those between genera except Raphanus were 4.9 % to 13.6 % and 3.1 % to 10.3%, respectively. The differences of sequences of nucleotides and amino acids among genera were higher than those among species, and the differences of nucleotides sequences were higher than those of amino acids. The phylogenetic tree was thus constructed based on the alignment nucleotides sequences from Nei's genetic distances. The neighbor-joining (NJ) and minimum-evolution (ME) trees showed that Brassica was closely related to Raphanus, followed by Barbarea, Roripl Scop and Arabidopsis Heynh, but was remotely related to Capsella Medic. This research elucidated the relationship among crucifer species at nucleotide level, which could proved some help for the utilization of plant germplasms.

Uraria Desv. and Christia Moench are two closely related genera in Fabaceae and are of high medicinal and ornamental value. To examine the pollen variability and evaluate its taxonomic significance, the pollen morphology of 18 samples representing six species in Uraria and three species in Christia was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and both qualitative and quantitative palynological features were examined. The pollen grains were measured, described, and electron photomicrographs were taken. The pollen grains of nine species have tricolpate apertures. Three types of pollen shapes, that is, spheroidal, prolate, and perprolate were observed, where the perprolate pollen grains were predominant. The exine ornamentation of pollen grains is reticulate or rugulate. A high level of interspecific and intraspecific variation in the shapes of pollen grains in Uraria and Christia was observed. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the first two principal components accounted for 79.43 % of the total variance, where P/E, pore shape, exine ornamentation, and pore size are valuable taxonomic characters in these two genera. Our results suggested that it was challenging to use pollen morphology as taxonomic features at interspecific or intraspecific taxonomic levels, but palynological assessments could provide valuable evidence to understand the origin and evolutionary process of plants at the taxonomic levels of genus or family.