AUTHOR=Manape Tushar Kashinath , Soumia Parakkattu S. , Khade Yogesh P. , Satheesh Viswanathan , Anandhan Sivalingam TITLE=A glossy mutant in onion (Allium cepa L.) shows decreased expression of wax biosynthesis genes JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=14 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1245308 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1245308 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=
Cuticular wax is a characteristic feature of land plants that provides protection against both biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, a glossy mutant lacking an epicuticular wax layer was identified in the γ-irradiated M2 mutant population of the onion cultivar Bhima Super. The inheritance of the mutant’s glossy phenotype was determined to be recessive and single locus. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed poor accumulation of wax crystals in the glossy mutant, concentrated near the stomata. The plant height, number of leaves per plant, and stomatal parameters of the mutant were similar to the wild-type. RNA-seq was used to comprehend the expression variations of waxy cuticle-related genes in the glossy mutant and its wild-type waxy cultivars. Differential gene expression analysis of the RNA-seq data revealed that the genes involved in wax biosynthesis, such as