The Accumulation of Lutein and β-Carotene and Transcript Profiling of Genes Related to Carotenoids Biosynthesis in Yellow Celery

Morphological characteristics, anatomical structure, and dynamic change of ascorbic acid under different storage conditions of celery

Ascorbic acid (AsA) is a crucial antioxidant in vegetables. Celery (Apium graveolens L.) is a vegetable of Apiaceae and is rich in AsA. Till now, the effects of different storage conditions on celery morphological characteristics, anatomical features, and antioxidant accumulation are unclear. Here, the celery cvs. 'Sijixiaoxiangqin' and 'Liuhehuangxinqin' were selected as experimental materials, and the two celery plants grown for 65 days were harvested from soils and stored in light at room temperature (25 °C), darkness at low temperature (4 °C), and darkness at room temperature (25 °C) for 0, 6, 24, 30, 48, and 54 h, respectively. The results showed that celery in darkness had better water retention capacity than celery in light. Morphological changes in celery mesophyll, leaf veins, and petioles were the least in darkness at low temperature (4 °C). The weight loss rate and wilting degree in darkness at low temperature (4 °C) were the lowest, and the AsA content remained at a high level. The expression patterns of GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase (AgGMP) and L-galactose dehydrogenase (AgGalDH) were similar to the change of AsA content. The results indicated that low temperature and dark was the optimized storage condition for 'Sijixiaoxiangqin' and 'Liuhehuangxinqin' celery. AgGMP and AgGalDH genes may play an important role in the accumulation of AsA in celery. This paper will provide potential references for prolonging the shelf life of celery and other horticultural crops.

Integrated Metabolomic and Transcriptomic Analyses Reveal the Basis for Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) Storage Roots

Carotenoids are important compounds of quality and coloration within sweet potato storage roots, but the mechanisms that govern the accumulation of these carotenoids remain poorly understood. In this study, metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses of carotenoids were performed using young storage roots (S2) and old storage roots (S4) from white-fleshed (variety S19) and yellow-fleshed (variety BS) sweet potato types. S19 storage roots exhibited significantly lower total carotenoid levels relative to BS storage roots, and different numbers of carotenoid types were detected in the BS-S2, BS-S4, S19-S2, and S19-S4 samples. β-cryptoxanthin was identified as a potential key driver of differences in root coloration between the S19 and BS types. Combined transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed significant co-annotation of the carotenoid and abscisic acid (ABA) metabolic pathways, PSY (phytoene synthase), CHYB (β-carotene 3-hydroxylase), ZEP (zeaxanthin epoxidase), NCED3 (9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase 3), ABA2 (xanthoxin dehydrogenase), and CYP707A (abscisic acid 8’-hydroxylase) genes were found to be closely associated with carotenoid and ABA content in these sweet potato storage roots. The expression patterns of the transcription factors OFP and FAR1 were associated with the ABA content in these two sweet potato types. Together, these results provide a valuable foundation for understanding the mechanisms governing carotenoid biosynthesis in storage roots, and offer a theoretical basis for sweet potato breeding and management.

Origin, evolution, breeding, and omics of Apiaceae: a family of vegetables and medicinal plants

Many of the world's most important vegetables and medicinal crops, including carrot, celery, coriander, fennel, and cumin, belong to the Apiaceae family. In this review, we summarize the complex origins of Apiaceae and the current state of research on the family, including traditional and molecular breeding practices, bioactive compounds, medicinal applications, nanotechnology, and omics research. Numerous molecular markers, regulatory factors, and functional genes have been discovered, studied, and applied to improve vegetable and medicinal crops in Apiaceae. In addition, current trends in Apiaceae application and research are also briefly described, including mining new functional genes and metabolites using omics research, identifying new genetic variants associated with important agronomic traits by population genetics analysis and GWAS, applying genetic transformation, the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system, and nanotechnology. This review provides a reference for basic and applied research on Apiaceae vegetable and medicinal plants.

AgGMP encoding GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase from celery enhanced the accumulation of ascorbic acid and resistance to drought stress in Arabidopsis

Ascorbic acid (AsA) is an important nutrient in celery, the conversion of D-mannose-1-P to GDP-D-mannose catalyzed by GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMPase) represents the first committed step in the biosynthesis of AsA. To clarify the function of the AgGMP gene of celery, the AgGMP gene was cloned from celery cv. 'Jinnan Shiqin' . It contains an open reading frame (ORF) with the length of 1,086 bp, encoding 361 amino acids. AgGMP protein was highly conserved among different plant species. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the GMP proteins from celery and carrot belonged to the same branch. AgGMP protein was mainly composed of three α-helixes and certain random coils. No signal peptide was found in the AgGMP protein. The subcellular localization indicated that the AgGMP protein was located in the cytoplasm. The relative expression levels of AgGMP in 'Jinnan Shiqin' were significantly up-regulated at 2 h and 4 h under drought stress treatments. AsA contents in transgenic Arabidopsis lines hosting AgGMP gene were higher than that in wild type plants, and the root lengths were also longer in the MS medium containing 300 mM mannitol. The present study provides useful evidence for the functional involvement of AgGMP in regulating AsA accumulation and response to drought stress in celery.