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. 2011 Jul;156(3):1639-52.
doi: 10.1104/pp.111.174979. Epub 2011 May 18.

Ethylene and 1-methylcyclopropene differentially regulate gene expression during onion sprout suppression

Katherine Cools  1 , Gemma A Chope, John P Hammond, Andrew J Thompson, Leon A Terry
Affiliations

Ethylene and 1-methylcyclopropene differentially regulate gene expression during onion sprout suppression

Katherine Cools et al. Plant Physiol. 2011 Jul.

Abstract

Onion (Allium cepa) is regarded as a nonclimacteric vegetable. In onions, however, ethylene can suppress sprouting while the ethylene-binding inhibitor 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) can also suppress sprout growth; yet, it is unknown how ethylene and 1-MCP elicit the same response. In this study, onions were treated with 10 μL L(-1) ethylene or 1 μL L(-1) 1-MCP individually or in combination for 24 h at 20°C before or after curing (6 weeks) at 20°C or 28°C and then stored at 1°C. Following curing, a subset of these same onions was stored separately under continuous air or ethylene (10 μL L(-1)) at 1°C. Onions treated with ethylene and 1-MCP in combination after curing for 24 h had reduced sprout growth as compared with the control 25 weeks after harvest. Sprout growth following storage beyond 25 weeks was only reduced through continuous ethylene treatment. This observation was supported by a higher proportion of down-regulated genes characterized as being involved in photosynthesis, measured using a newly developed onion microarray. Physiological and biochemical data suggested that ethylene was being perceived in the presence of 1-MCP, since sprout growth was reduced in onions treated with 1-MCP and ethylene applied in combination but not when applied individually. A cluster of probes representing transcripts up-regulated by 1-MCP alone but down-regulated by ethylene alone or in the presence of 1-MCP support this suggestion. Ethylene and 1-MCP both down-regulated a probe tentatively annotated as an ethylene receptor as well as ethylene-insensitive 3, suggesting that both treatments down-regulate the perception and signaling events of ethylene.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Schematic diagram of the experimental plan.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Respiration rate (mmol CO2 kg−1 h−1) of Sherpa onions treated with ethylene before curing (EB), 1-MCP before curing (MB), ethylene and 1-MCP before curing (EMB), ethylene after curing (EA), 1-MCP after curing (MA), ethylene and 1-MCP after curing (EMA), or no treatment (control) for 24 h at 20°C (n = 12). lsd bars (P = 0.05) are shown.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Fru, Glc, Suc, and total fructans (DP3–DP8) of Sherpa onions treated with ethylene before curing (EB), 1-MCP before curing (MB), ethylene and 1-MCP before curing (EMB), ethylene after curing (EA), 1-MCP after curing (MA), ethylene and 1-MCP after curing (EMA), or no treatment (control) for 24 h at 20°C (n = 12). lsd bars (P = 0.05) are shown. DW, Dry weight.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
K-means cluster analysis of altered onion gene expression sampled following treatment before curing for 24 h at 20°C with ethylene (EB), 1-MCP (MB), ethylene and 1-MCP (EMB), or untreated (control).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Functional classification of 272 probes up-regulated by continuous ethylene treatment (A) and 302 probes down-regulated by continuous ethylene treatment (B) sampled after 29 weeks of storage.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Correlation between the gene expression of five genes quantified using the onion microarray and qPCR. The expression of the five genes was quantified for each onion treatment (r = 0.68, P < 0.001).
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References

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