Muscadines face limitations to fresh market production due to high manual labor costs. Mechanical harvesting holds promise for reducing the costs associated with muscadine production but requires cultivars with easily detached fruit at maturity. This study aimed to determine muscadine fruit and pedicel characteristics influencing fruit detachment force (FDF) and to unravel the genes, hormones, and regulatory networks governing muscadine abscission. We characterized the FDF of muscadine fruit across 18 genotypes and at four developmental stages. Following this, we performed a transcriptome analysis using the mature pedicel tissue of two genotypes, a genotype with high FDF at maturity and a genotype with low FDF at maturity, to identify differentially expressed and uniquely expressed genes contributing to fruit detachment. We found that pedicel length, pedicel–fruit junction area, and fruit diameter positively correlated with FDF. This study also identified novel candidate genes, transcription factor families, and pathways associated with muscadine fruit abscission. These findings provide valuable knowledge on the progression of fruit abscission and insights for reducing FDF, particularly in developing machine-harvestable muscadine cultivars and fostering sustainability and efficiency in muscadine production.

中文翻译：

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麝香葡萄果实脱落带的形态和遗传特征


由于体力劳动成本高，麝香葡萄在生鲜市场生产方面面临限制。机械收割有望降低与麝香葡萄生产相关的成本，但需要品种在成熟时果实容易脱落。本研究旨在确定影响麝香葡萄果实分离力 （FDF） 的葡萄果实和花梗特征，并揭示控制麝香葡萄脱落的基因、激素和调控网络。我们表征了麝香葡萄果实在 18 种基因型和 4 个发育阶段的 FDF。在此之后，我们使用两种基因型的成熟花梗组织进行了转录组分析，一种成熟时具有高 FDF 的基因型和成熟时低 FDF 的基因型，以鉴定导致果实分离的差异表达和独特表达基因。我们发现花梗长度、花梗-果实连接面积和果实直径与 FDF 呈正相关。本研究还确定了与麝香葡萄果实脱落相关的新候选基因、转录因子家族和通路。这些发现为水果脱落的进展提供了宝贵的信息，并为减少 FDF 提供了见解，特别是在开发可收获的麝香葡萄品种和促进麝香葡萄生产的可持续性和效率方面。