Cuticular waxes of nectarines during fruit development in relation to surface conductance and susceptibility to Monilinia laxa

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The cuticle is composed of cutin and cuticular waxes, and it is the first protective barrier to abiotic and biotic stresses in fruit. In this study, we analysed the composition of and changes in cuticular waxes during fruit development in nectarine (Prunus persica L. Batsch) cultivars, in parallel with their conductance and their susceptibility to Monilinia laxa. The nectarine waxes were composed of triterpenoids, mostly ursolic and oleanolic acids, phytosterols, and very-long-chain aliphatics. In addition, we detected phenolic compounds that were esterified with sugars or with triterpenoids, which are newly described in cuticular waxes. We quantified 42 compounds and found that they changed markedly during fruit development, with an intense accumulation of triterpenoids during initial fruit growth followed by their decrease at the end of endocarp lignification and a final increase in very-long-chain alkanes and hydroxylated triterpenoids until maturity. The surface conductance and susceptibility to Monilinia decreased sharply at the beginning of endocarp lignification, suggesting that triterpenoid deposition could play a major role in regulating fruit permeability and susceptibility to brown rot. Our results provide new insights into the composition of cuticular waxes of nectarines and their changes during fruit development, opening new avenues of research to explore brown rot resistance factors in stone fruit.</jats:p>

Leaf Cuticular Transpiration Barrier Organization in Tea Tree Under Normal Growth Conditions

“…Under normal growth conditions, stomatal transpiration is much higher than cuticular transpiration, which makes the measurement of the abaxial cuticular transpiration technically challenging. The recently established new method enables us to measure cuticular transpiration from different leaf surfaces and cuticular substructures simultaneously ( Lino et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ). By applying this method, the cuticular transpiration rates from the eight tea germplasms were measured.…”

“…Previous studies have reported that the cyclic compounds are mainly located in intracuticular waxes. In contrast, the very-long-chain aliphatic compounds are widely distributed in the epicuticular and intracuticular waxes ( Weissflog et al, 2010 ; Jetter and Riederer, 2016 ; Zeisler and Schreiber, 2016 ; Lino et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ). Cuticular wax components differ among plant species, developmental stages, tissue types, and even between both sides of the same leaf ( Jetter and Riederer, 2016 ; Zhu et al, 2018 ; Cheng et al, 2019 ; Romero and Rose, 2019 ; Diarte et al, 2020 ; Lino et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ).…”

Variations in Triterpenoid Deposition in Cuticular Waxes during Development and Maturation of Selected Fruits of Rosaceae Family

“…For this study, three plant species bearing edible accessory fruits (pseudo-fruits) were chosen. The reported studies on Rosaceae species bearing other types of fruit, such as a previous study on sweet cherry [ 16 ] or the current study on nectarine ( Prunus persica L. Batsch) [ 31 ], described the various patterns of triterpenoid deposition during fruit development and ripening. In nectarine fruit, an intense accumulation of triterpenoids during initial fruit growth, followed by their decrease at the end of endocarp lignification, and a final increase in the level of hydroxylated triterpenoids until maturity were noticed [ 31 ].…”

Plasticity of the Cuticular Transpiration Barrier in Response to Water Shortage and Resupply in Camellia sinensis: A Role of Cuticular Waxes

“…The plant cuticle is a lipophilic layer coating essentially all aerial organs and acts as an interface between plants and environment. Besides protection from UV radiation, insects, pathogens, and environmental contaminants ( Eigenbrode and Espelie, 1995 ; Krauss et al, 1997 ; Neinhuis and Barthlott, 1997 ; Müller, 2006 ; Zhang et al, 2019 ; Lino et al, 2020 ), the cuticle serves as a primary barrier to restrict non-stomatal water loss and facilitate plants to survive through drought stress ( Riederer and Schreider, 2001 ; Nawrath et al, 2013 ; Chen et al, 2020 ). The cuticle is a composite material chiefly made of cutin, waxes (epicuticular and intracuticular waxes), and polysaccharides ( Guzmán et al, 2014a , b ; Fernández et al, 2017 ).…”