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REVIEW article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional and Applied Plant Genomics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1410020
This article is part of the Research Topic Research Advances on Forest Tree Functional Genomics and Breeding View all 10 articles

Lignin's Crucial Role in Orchestrating Seed Stone Formation: Insights from Jujuba, Peach and Pear

Provisionally accepted
Muhammad Tahir Muhammad Tahir 1Fatima . Fatima . 2Syed S. Hussain Syed S. Hussain 3Sara Zafar Sara Zafar 4Hui Li Hui Li 5Quanzi Li Quanzi Li 6Jia Li Jia Li 7Arthur J. Ragauskas Arthur J. Ragauskas 10,8,9*Manzar Abbas Manzar Abbas 7*
  • 1 Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 2 Department of Mathematics, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
  • 3 College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, Beijing, China
  • 4 Botany Department, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
  • 5 College of Forestry, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
  • 6 State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
  • 7 Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Engineering, Yibin University, Yibin, China
  • 8 Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, Herbert College of Agriculture, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
  • 9 Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (DOE), Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States
  • 10 Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    A hard endocarp (i.e., stone) inside fruit is a characteristic of drupe fruits such as jujube, peach, mango, etc. Hard stone significantly affects the quality and downstream processing of fruits. The complex aromatic polymer lignin deposition in the secondary cell wall determines stone hardness. Lignin comprises phenylpropanoid units formed by hydroxycinnamoyl alcohol, which includes coniferyl, sinapyl, and p-coumaroyl alcohols. Lignin biosynthesis pathway involves a series of complex enzymatic reactions initiated from phenylalanine ammonia lyase and ends up polymerizing lignin monomers by laccase and peroxidase enzymes. Key gene involved in lignin biosynthesis are MYB-24, bZIP48, LAC12-1, C4H, CCoAOMT, C3H, F5H, NST1, CAD, CSE, NST1, CSE1, PAL2, and POD. Contrarily, genes and microRNAs involved in the delignification of seed stones are miR397a, miR31-3p, miR8-5p, MYB-32, FUL, and REPLUMLESS. Accurate alteration in the expression of these genes will result in the attainment of stoneless fruits for cheap and hazel-free downstream processing.

    Keywords: Lignin, Fruit endocarp, Stone formation, secondary cell wall, pitless verities

    Received: 31 Mar 2024; Accepted: 20 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tahir, ., Hussain, Zafar, Li, Li, Li, Ragauskas and Abbas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Arthur J. Ragauskas, Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, Herbert College of Agriculture, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, 37996-4563, Tennessee, United States
    Manzar Abbas, Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Engineering, Yibin University, Yibin, China

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