Organ Abscission in Plants: With Special Emphasis on Bell Pepper

Bell pepper(Capsicum annuum L.),along with potato and tomato,is one of the three most cultivated vegetables in the world.Bell pepper is worldwide accepted due to its characteristics of color,smell,flavor,and texture.Bell pepper is also considered a nutritious food due to its vitamin and antioxidant contents.In Mexico,bell pepper production has a high value because it is grown for the international markets,particularly the United States of America.Nevertheless,the abscission offlowers and fruits is a factor that limits the yield,hinders the planning of activities,and causes a variation in the prices of peppers.Due to the importance of this process,in this work we did a bibliometric analysis and literature review of scientific advances for the understanding of the abscission pro-cess in plants,and in particular for the bell pepper.Finally,we introduce new perspectives that would help direct future research about organ abscission in plants.Likewise,the lack of research that would further clarify abscis-sion process in the bell pepper plant is discussed.

Requirement of KNAT1/BP for the Development of Abscission Zones in Arabidopsis thaliana

The KNAT1 gene is a member of the Class I KNOXhomeobox gene family and is thought to play an important role in meristem development and leaf morphogenesis. Recent studies have demonstrated that KNAT1/BP regulates the architecture of the inflorescence by affecting pedicle development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Herein, we report the characterization of an Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion mutant that shares considerable phenotypic similarity to the previously identified mutant brevipedicle （bp）. Molecular and genetic analyses showed that the mutant is allelic to bp and that the T-DNA is located within the first helix of the KNAT1 homeodomain （HD）. Although the mutation causes a typical abnormality of short pedicles, propendent siliques, and semidwarfism, no obvious defects are observed in the vegetative stage. A study on cell morphology showed that asymmetrical division and inhibition of cell elongation contribute to the downward-pointing and shorter pedicle phenotype. Loss of KNAT/BPfunction results in the abnormal development of abscission zones. Mlcroarray analysis of gene expression profiling suggests that KNAT1/BP may regulate abscission zone development through hormone signaling and hormone metabolism in Arabidopsis.

Molecular regulatory events of flower and fruit abscission in horticultural plants

Flower and fruit abscission is a highly programmed physiological process,which is closely related to the yield of horticultural plants.The coordination of many regulatory factors associated with metabolic and signaling pathways plays a key role in the flower and fruit shedding.Hormones,peptides,carbohydrates,polyamines or cell wall modifying proteins regulate flower and fruit shedding.This article reviewed the recent studies of flower and fruit abscission,including the molecular regulation mechanism of abscission zone formation,typical structure and location of abscission zones,and other factors affecting flower and fruit abscission,such as stresses,hormones,peptides,carbohydrates,polyamines and cell wall modifying proteins.Overall,the review summarizes the developmental mechanism and the diversity of abscission zones,and the key factors affecting flower and fruit abscission of horticultural plants,aiming to provide guidance for studying the molecular regulatory mechanism of flower and fruit abscission.

Phenotypical and gene co-expression network analyses of seed shattering in divergent sorghum(Sorghum spp.)

Sorghum[Sorghum bicolor(L.)Moench],a multipurpose C4 crop,is also a model species of the Poaceae family for plant research.During the process of domestication,the modification of seed dispersal mode is considered a key event,as the loss of seed shattering caused a significant increase in yield.In order to understand the seed shattering process in sorghum,we further studied eight previously identified divergent sorghum germplasm with different shattering degrees.We described their phenotypes in great detail,analyzed the histology of abscission zone,and conducted a gene co-expression analysis.We observed that the abscission layer of the most strong-shattering varieties began to differentiate before the 5-10 cm panicles development stage and was completely formed at flag leaf unfolding.The protective cells on the pedicels were also fully lignified by flowering.Through the weighted gene correlation network analysis(WGCNA),we mined for candidate genes involved in the abscission process at the heading stage.We found that these genes were mainly associated with such biological processes as hormone signal transmission(SORBI_3003G361300,SORBI_3006G216500,SORBI_3009G027800,SORBI_3007G077200),cell wall modification and degradation(SORBI_3002G205500,SORBI_3004G013800,SORBI_3010G022400,SORBI_3003G251800,SORBI_3003G254700,SORBI_3003G410800,SORBI_3009G162700,SORBI_3001G406700,SORBI_3004G042700,SORBI_3004G244600,SORBI_3001G099100),and lignin synthesis(SORBI_3004G220700,SORBI_3004G062500,SORBI_3010G214900,SORBI_3009G181800).Our study has provided candidate genes required for shedding for further study.We believe that function characterization of these genes may provide insight into our understanding of seed shattering process.

Letting Go is Never Easy:Abscission and Receptor- Like Protein Kinases

Abscission is the process by which plants discard organs in response to environmental cues/stressors, or as part of their normal development. Abscission has been studied throughout the history of the plant sciences and in numerous species. Although long studied at the anatomical and physiological levels, abscission has only been elucidated at the molecular and genetic levels within the last two decades, primarily with the use of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. This has led to the discovery of numerous genes involved at all steps of abscission, including key pathways involving receptor-like protein kinases （RLKs）. This review covers the current knowledge of abscission research, highlighting the role of RLKs.