Fig trees (Ficus carica L.) are commonly grown in the Mediterranean area, where salinity is an increasing problem in coastal areas. Young, fruiting plants of cv. Dottato were subjected to moderate salt stress (100 mM NaCl added to irrigation water) for 48 days before fruit sampling. To clarify the effect of salinity stress, we investigated changes in the transcription of the main sugar metabolism‐related genes involved in the synthesis, accumulation and transport of soluble carbohydrates in ripe fruits by quantitative real‐time PCR as well as the content of soluble sugars by quantitative 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A general increase in the transcript levels of genes involved in the transport of soluble carbohydrates was observed. Alkaline‐neutral and Acid Invertases transcripts, related to the synthesis of glucose and fructose, were up‐regulated in ripe fruits of NaCl‐stressed plants without a change in the content of D‐glucose and D‐fructose. The increases in sucrose and D‐sorbitol contents were likely the result of the up‐regulation of the transcription of Sucrose‐Synthase‐ and Sorbitol‐Dehydrogenase‐encoding genes.

Moderate Salinity Stress Affects Expression of Main Sugar Metabolism and Transport Genes and Soluble Carbohydrate Content in Ripe Fig Fruits (Ficus carica L. cv. Dottato)

Lucia Natali;Andrea Cavallini;Flavia Mascagni;Giovanni Caruso;Riccardo Gucci;Rodolfo Bernardi
2021-01-01

Abstract

Fig trees (Ficus carica L.) are commonly grown in the Mediterranean area, where salinity is an increasing problem in coastal areas. Young, fruiting plants of cv. Dottato were subjected to moderate salt stress (100 mM NaCl added to irrigation water) for 48 days before fruit sampling. To clarify the effect of salinity stress, we investigated changes in the transcription of the main sugar metabolism‐related genes involved in the synthesis, accumulation and transport of soluble carbohydrates in ripe fruits by quantitative real‐time PCR as well as the content of soluble sugars by quantitative 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A general increase in the transcript levels of genes involved in the transport of soluble carbohydrates was observed. Alkaline‐neutral and Acid Invertases transcripts, related to the synthesis of glucose and fructose, were up‐regulated in ripe fruits of NaCl‐stressed plants without a change in the content of D‐glucose and D‐fructose. The increases in sucrose and D‐sorbitol contents were likely the result of the up‐regulation of the transcription of Sucrose‐Synthase‐ and Sorbitol‐Dehydrogenase‐encoding genes.
2021
Mascellani, Anna; Natali, Lucia; Cavallini, Andrea; Mascagni, Flavia; Caruso, Giovanni; Gucci, Riccardo; Havlik, Jaroslav; Bernardi, Rodolfo
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
2021 Mascellani_Plants.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Versione finale editoriale
Licenza: Creative commons
Dimensione 511.25 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
511.25 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/1112945
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 20
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 16
social impact