RT Conference Proceedings
T1 Identification and functional validation of Methyl Ketone Synthase 2 in Woodland Strawberry
A1 Urrutia, María
A1 Meco, Victoriano
A1 Rambla, José L
A1 Toivainen, Tuomas
A1 Martín-Pizarro, Carmen
A1 Sánchez-Gómez, Carlos
A1 Pillet, Jeremy
A1 Trapero Mozos, Almudena
A1 Salas, Joaquín
A1 Granell, Antonio
A1 Hytönen, Timo
A1 Posé-Padilla, David
K1 Fresas
AB Woodland strawberry is the diploid closest ancestor of the cultivated strawberry and the model species for genetic studies in the Fragaria genus. It is naturally distributed across Europe and it is appreciated for its delicate aroma and flavor.Methyl ketones are compounds with demonstrated insect repellent effects. They are highly abundant in the glandular trichomes of wild tomato, where their pathway was first described, but not in the cultivated species. Their synthesis derives from fatty acids in a two-step process mediated by a thioesterase (ShMKS2) and a decarboxylase (ShMKS1).Higher diversity and quantity of methyl ketones are present in the volatilome of woodland strawberry ripe fruits than in those of F. × ananassa. The aim of this study is to reveal the genetic basis of methyl ketone production in strawberry fruit. We quantified methyl ketones (2-heptanone, 2-nonanone, 2-undecanone), their secondary alcohols (2-heptanol, 2-nonanol, 2-undecanol) and the methyl esters of their fatty acid precursors (methyl octanoate, methyl decanoate, methyl dodecanoate) by GC-MS in a natural collection of European woodland strawberry, that comprises 199 accessions fully genotyped with >1.8 M SNPs representing the continental diversity. Conducting a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS), we identified a candidate region linked to methyl ketones accumulation harbouring three homologues of ShMKS2: FvMKS2A, FvMKS2B and FvMKS2C. Interestingly, FvMKS2A, which presented two alleles in the European collection (FvMKS2A-1 and FvMKS2A-2), is the only FvMKS2 paralog expressed in woodland strawberry fruit, being up-regulated during ripening.Functional validation of all candidate genes and alleles by transient over-expression and silencing in both Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and F. vesca fruits has revealed that FvMKS2A and FvMKS2B, but not FvMKS2C, are capable of synthesizing methyl ketones.
YR 2021
FD 2021-09-13
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/23567
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/23567
LA eng
NO ERC Starting Grant ERC-2014-StG 638134
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 19 ene 2026