A new paper entitled ‘Activator-and repressor-type MYB transcription factors are involved in chilling injury-induced flesh lignification in loquat via their interactions with the phenylpropanoid pathway’ was recently accepted by Journal of Experimental Botany. The first author and corresponding author are Ph.D. student Qian Xu and Professor Kunsong Chen from the Fruit Quality Biology Research Team of Zhejiang University. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (key project) and 973 Program.
Loquat is an evergreen perennial fruit tree originating in China. Lignification not only cause declining fruit quality but also restricts development of the industry. Our previous studies indicated that heat treatment (HT) and low temperature condition (LTC) alleviated lignification effectively. In the present research, two MYBs were isolated from loquat, the activator EjMYB1 and repressor EjMYB2. Both of these were responsive to HT and LTC treatment, and their expression was closely correlated to fruit lignification. EjMYB1 and EjMYB2 regulated lignin biosynthesis by binding to the AC-element in the promoter of lignin biosynthesis genes. This study was the first attempt to explore the transcriptional regulatory mechanism of fruit lignification, and provided a theoretical basis for improving postharvest storage and logistics technology of loquat.
