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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Genetics, Epigenetics and Chromosome Biology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1462545

Fade Into You: Genetic Control of Pigmentation Patterns in Red-Flesh Apple (Malus domestica)

Provisionally accepted
Pierre Bouillon Pierre Bouillon 1,2*Etienne BELIN Etienne BELIN 1Anne-Laure Fanciullino Anne-Laure Fanciullino 1Sandrine Balzergue Sandrine Balzergue 1Sylvain Hanteville Sylvain Hanteville 1Yao Letekoma Yao Letekoma 1Maryline Cournol Maryline Cournol 1Fatima Faris Fatima Faris 1Andréa Bouanich Andréa Bouanich 1Dimitri Bréard Dimitri Bréard 1Frédéric Bernard Frédéric Bernard 2Jean-Marc Celton Jean-Marc Celton 1*
  • 1 INRA Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences, Beaucouzé, France
  • 2 IFO, Seiches-sur-le-Loir, France

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

    The genetic basis of type 1 red-flesh color development in apple (Malus domestica) depends upon a particular allele of the MdMYB10 gene. Interestingly, type 1 red-flesh apples are fully red after fruit set, but anthocyanin pigmentation in apple fruit cortex may decrease during fruit growth and maturation, leading to variable red patterning and intensities in the mature cortical flesh.We developed a histogram-based color analysis method to quantitatively estimate pigmentation patterns. This methodology was applied to investigate the phenotypic diversity in four hybrid F1 families segregating for red-flesh color. Pigmentation patterns were found to be heritable allowing the identification of a new locus by QTL analysis. To further investigate the mechanisms involved in the spatial deposition of anthocyanin, metabolome, transcriptome and methylome comparisons between white and red flesh areas within the red-flesh genotype cv. 'R201' exhibiting flesh pigmentation patterns, was performed. Wide-targeted analysis showed that white-flesh areas accumulate more dihydrochalcones and hydroxycinnamic acids than red-flesh areas while red-flesh areas accumulate more flavonoids. Anthocyanin biosynthesis genes and anthocyanin positive regulators (MBW complex) were up-regulated in red-flesh areas, while a reduction in anthocyanin storage, transport and stability (increase of pH, down-regulation of MdGSTU22) and an increase in phenolic catabolism were concomitant with color fading process in white-flesh areas.Expression of MdGSTU22 was linked to a differentially methylated region (DMR) suggesting a potential environmental effect on the epigenetic control of gene expression involved in color fading. Altogether, these results provide the first characterization and functional identification of color fading in apple fruit flesh.

    Keywords: red-flesh apple, Malus domestica, Anthocyanin, Pigmentation pattern, apple genetics

    Received: 10 Jul 2024; Accepted: 03 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Bouillon, BELIN, Fanciullino, Balzergue, Hanteville, Letekoma, Cournol, Faris, Bouanich, Bréard, Bernard and Celton. 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:
    Pierre Bouillon, INRA Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences, Beaucouzé, France
    Jean-Marc Celton, INRA Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences, Beaucouzé, France

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