Transcriptomic analysis and physiological characteristics of exogenous naphthylacetic acid application to regulate the healing process of oriental melon grafted onto squash

Chuanqiang Xu; Fang Wu; Jieying Guo; Shuan Hou; Xiaofang Wu; Ying Xin

doi:10.7717/peerj.13980

Transcriptomic analysis and physiological characteristics of exogenous naphthylacetic acid application to regulate the healing process of oriental melon grafted onto squash

PeerJ. 2022 Sep 15:10:e13980. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13980. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Chuanqiang Xu^{1

2

3}, Fang Wu^{1

2

3}, Jieying Guo^{1

2

3}, Shuan Hou^{1

2

3}, Xiaofang Wu^{1

2

3}, Ying Xin^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Northern Horticultural Facilities Design & Application Technology (Liaoning), Shenyang, China.
² Key Laboratory of Protected Horticulture (Shenyang Agricultural University) Ministry of Education, Shenyang, China.
³ College of Horticulture, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China.

Abstract

The plant graft healing process is an intricate development influenced by numerous endogenous and environmental factors. This process involves the histological changes, physiological and biochemical reactions, signal transduction, and hormone exchanges in the grafting junction. Studies have shown that applying exogenous plant growth regulators can effectively promote the graft healing process and improve the quality of grafted plantlets. However, the physiological and molecular mechanism of graft healing formation remains unclear. In our present study, transcriptome changes in the melon and cucurbita genomes were analyzed between control and NAA treatment, and we provided the first view of complex networks to regulate graft healing under exogenous NAA application. The results showed that the exogenous NAA application could accelerate the graft healing process of oriental melon scion grafted onto squash rootstock through histological observation, increase the SOD, POD, PAL, and PPO activities during graft union development and enhance the contents of IAA, GA₃, and ZR except for the IL stage. The DEGs were identified in the plant hormone signal-transduction, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and phenylalanine metabolism through transcriptome analysis of CK vs. NAA at the IL, CA, and VB stage by KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Moreover, the exogenous NAA application significantly promoted the expression of genes involved in the hormone signal-transduction pathway, ROS scavenging system, and vascular bundle formation.

Keywords: Endogenous hormone; Exogenous naphthylacetic acid; Graft; Oriental melon; ROS scavenging; Signal transduction; Squash; Transcriptomic analysis; Vascular bundle formation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cucumis melo* / genetics
Cucurbita* / genetics
Cucurbitaceae* / genetics
Gene Expression Profiling
Hormones
Plant Growth Regulators / pharmacology
Transcriptome

Substances

Plant Growth Regulators
Hormones

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFD1000300), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31401917), the China Agriculture Research System of Watermelon and Melon (CARS-25), and the Basic Research Project of Liaoning Province (LSNJC202005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.