Author: Lashbrook, Coralie C.

Source: Stewart Postharvest Review, Volume 5, Number 1, February 2009 , pp. 1-7(7)

Publisher: Stewart Postharvest Solutions

Abstract:

Purpose of review: This review focuses on seminal studies that employ functional genomic and related approaches to study developmental and environmental abscission.

Findings: The construction of large expressed sequence tag (EST) populations in horticultural species with unsequenced genomes and limited genomic resources has set the stage for gene population analyses and has promoted the use of microarrays to analyse abscission-related gene expression. Smaller-scale sequencing of cDNAs in abscission zones (AZs) has identified gene products with potential regulatory roles at multiple sites within the abscission pathway. Optimisation of laser capture microdissection for isolating abscission zones in the genetic model system Arabidopsis has provided the first genome-wide glimpse of the AZ transcriptome responding to a developmental shedding cue.

Directions for future research: Further development of abscission-related genomic resources and emerging technologies is needed in species of horticultural importance. This is expected to identify novel abscission regulators and suggest new strategies to correct abscission traits that presently limit plant quality, yield and stress tolerance. Future gene expression profiling experiments should consider that the pathway(s) linking incoming environmental and developmental stimuli with organ detachment responses in AZs may operate over potentially long distances with complex intervening tissues. Thoughtful attention to experimental design will ensure that genomic data most effectively contributes to future understandings of both spatial and temporal abscission control.

Keywords: ABSCISSION; FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS; ETHYLENE; CELL WALL

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2212/spr.2009.1.4

Publication date: 2009-02-01

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