A novel mutation in ACS11 leads to androecy in cucumber

• Published in: Journal of Integrative Agriculture Vol. 22; no. 11; pp. 3312 - 3320
• Main Authors: WANG, Jie, LI, Shuai, CHEN, Chen, ZHANG, Qi-qi, ZHANG, Hui-min, CUI, Qing-zhi, CAI, Guang-hua, ZHANG, Xiao-peng, CHAI, Sen, WAN, Li, YANG, Xue-yong, ZHANG, Zhong-hua, HUANG, San-wen, CHEN, Hui-ming, SUN, Jin-jing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.11.2023; College of Horticulture,Hunan Agricultural University,Changsha 410128,P.R.China%Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen,Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Shenzhen 518124,P.R.China%State Key Laboratory of Vegetable Biobreeding,Institute of Vegetables and Flowers,Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Beijing 100081,P.R.China%Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen,Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Shenzhen 518124,P.R.China; Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Sciences,Haikou 571101,P.R.China; College of Horticulture,Qingdao Agricultural University,Qingdao 266109,P.R.China; State Key Laboratory of Vegetable Biobreeding,Institute of Vegetables and Flowers,Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Beijing 100081,P.R.China%State Key Laboratory of Vegetable Biobreeding,Institute of Vegetables and Flowers,Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Beijing 100081,P.R.China; Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen,Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Shenzhen 518124,P.R.China%Hunan Vegetable Research Institute,Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Changsha 410125,P.R.China%College of Horticulture,Qingdao Agricultural University,Qingdao 266109,P.R.China%Hunan Vegetable Research Institute,Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Changsha 410125,P.R.China; KeAi Communications Co., Ltd
• Subjects: 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase; agriculture; androecy; biosynthesis; cucumber; cucumbers; Cucumis sativus; enzyme activity; ethyl methanesulfonate; ethylene; genes; genetic analysis; germplasm; heterosis; heterozygosity; males; marker-assisted breeding; mutants; mutation; phenylalanine; serine; sex determination; androecy; marker-assisted breeding; ethylene; cucumber
• ISSN: 2095-3119; 2352-3425
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.03.003

Sex determination in plants gives rise to unisexual flowers. A better understanding of the regulatory mechanism underlying the production of unisexual flowers will help to clarify the process of sex determination in plants and allow researchers and farmers to harness heterosis. Androecious cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants can be used as the male parent when planted alongside a gynoecious line to produce heterozygous seeds, thus reducing the cost of seed production. The isolation and characterization of additional androecious genotypes in varied backgrounds will increase the pool of available germplasm for breeding. Here, we discovered an androecious mutant in a previously generated ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-mutagenized library of the cucumber inbred line ‘406’. Genetic analysis, whole-genome resequencing, and molecular marker-assisted verification demonstrated that a nonsynonymous mutation in the ethylene biosynthetic gene 1-AMINOCYCLOPROPANE-1-CARBOXYLATE SYNTHASE 11 (ACS11) conferred androecy. The mutation caused an amino acid change from serine (Ser) to phenylalanine (Phe) at position 301 (S301F). In vitro enzyme activity assays revealed that this S301F mutation leads to a complete loss of enzymatic activity. This study provides a new germplasm for use in cucumber breeding as the androecious male parent, and it offers new insights into the catalytic mechanism of ACS enzymes.