The International Strawberry Sequencing Consortium reports the draft genome of the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca). The genome of this diploid species should serve as a reference genome for the Fragaria genus, as the cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is an octoploid where F. vesca is predicted to be a subgenome donor. The woodland strawberry, Fragaria vesca (2n = 2x = 14), is a versatile experimental plant system. This diminutive herbaceous perennial has a small genome (240 Mb), is amenable to genetic transformation and shares substantial sequence identity with the cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) and other economically important rosaceous plants. Here we report the draft F. vesca genome, which was sequenced to ×39 coverage using second-generation technology, assembled de novo and then anchored to the genetic linkage map into seven pseudochromosomes. This diploid strawberry sequence lacks the large genome duplications seen in other rosids. Gene prediction modeling identified 34,809 genes, with most being supported by transcriptome mapping. Genes critical to valuable horticultural traits including flavor, nutritional value and flowering time were identified. Macrosyntenic relationships between Fragaria and Prunus predict a hypothetical ancestral Rosaceae genome that had nine chromosomes. New phylogenetic analysis of 154 protein-coding genes suggests that assignment of Populus to Malvidae, rather than Fabidae, is warranted.

Light quality and quantity affect plant adaptation to changing light conditions. Certain wavelengths in the visible and near-visible spectrum are known to have discrete effects on plant growth and development, and the effects of red, far-red, blue, and ultraviolet light have been well described. In this report, an effect of green light on Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) rosette architecture is demonstrated using a narrow-bandwidth light-emitting diode-based lighting system. When green light was added to a background of constant red and blue light, plants exhibited elongation of petioles and upward leaf reorientation, symptoms consistent with those observed in a shaded light environment. The same green light-induced phenotypes were also observed in phytochrome (phy) and cryptochrome (cry) mutant backgrounds. To explore the molecular mechanism underlying the green light-induced response, the accumulation of shade-induced transcripts was measured in response to enriched green light environments. Transcripts that have been demonstrated to increase in abundance under far-red-induced shade avoidance conditions either decrease or exhibit no change when green light is added. However, normal far-red light-associated transcript accumulation patterns are observed in cryptochrome mutants grown with supplemental green light, indicating that the green-absorbing form of cryptochrome is the photoreceptor active in limiting the green light induction of shade-associated transcripts. These results indicate that shade symptoms can be induced by the addition of green light and that cryptochrome receptors and an unknown light sensor participate in acclimation to the enriched green environment.

Narrow-bandwidth light treatments may be used to manipulate plant growth, development and metabolism. In this report LED-based light treatments were used to affect yield and metabolic content of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L. cv ‘Ceasar’) grown in controlled environments. This culinary herb produces an aroma highly appreciated by consumers, primarily composed of terpenes/terpenoids, phenylpropanoids, and fatty-acid- derived volatile molecules. Basil plants were grown under narrow-bandwidth light conditions, and leaf area, height, mass, antioxidant capacity and volatile emissions were measured at various time points. The results indicate reproducible significant differences in specific volatiles, and in biochemical classes of volatiles, compared to greenhouse grown plants. For example, basil plants grown under blue/red/yellow or blue/red/green wavelengths emit higher levels of a subset of monoterpenoid volatiles, while a blue/red/far-red treatment leads to higher levels of most sesquiterpenoid volatile molecules. Specific light treatments increase volatile content, mass, and antioxidant capacity. The results show that narrow-bandwidth illumination can induce discrete suites of volatile classes that affect sensory quality in commercial herbs, and may be useful tools in improving commercial production.

Background: Downy mildew (DM), caused by pathogenPlasmopara viticola(PV) is the single most damaging disease of grapes (VitisL.) worldwide. However, the mechanisms of the disease development in grapes are poorly understood. A method for estimating gene expression levels using Solexa sequencing of Type I restriction-endonuclease-generated cDNA fragments was used for deep sequencing the transcriptomes resulting from PV infected leaves ofVitis amurensisRupr. cv. Zuoshan-1. Our goal is to identify genes that are involved in resistance to grape DM disease.Results: Approximately 8.5 million (M) 21-nt cDNA tags were sequenced in the cDNA library derived from PV pathogen-infected leaves, and about 7.5 M were sequenced from the cDNA library constructed from the control leaves. When annotated, a total of 15,249 putative genes were identified from the Solexa sequencing tags for the infection (INF) library and 14,549 for the control (CON) library. Comparative analysis between these two cDNA libraries showed about 0.9% of the unique tags increased by at least five-fold, and about 0.6% of the unique tags decreased more than five-fold in infected leaves, while 98.5% of the unique tags showed less than five-fold difference between the two samples. The expression levels of 12 differentially expressed genes were confirmed by Real-time RT-PCR and the trends observed agreed well with the Solexa expression profiles, although the degree of change was lower in amplitude. After pathway enrichment analysis, a set of significantly enriched pathways were identified for the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which associated with ribosome structure, photosynthesis, amino acid and sugar metabolism.Conclusions: This study presented a series of candidate genes and pathways that may contribute to DM resistance in grapes, and illustrated that the Solexa-based tag-sequencing approach was a powerful tool for gene expression comparison between control and treated samples.

Plant productivity and product quality ultimately are dependent on an interaction between genetics and environment, and one of the most important environmental cues is light. Light quantity, quality, and duration provide critical information to plants that mediate growth and development. Light signal transduction is dependent on a series of photoreceptors and their associated signaling pathways that direct intracellular processes that lead to changes in gene expression that ultimately affect plant form, function, and content. For the last several decades, scientists have dissected these signaling pathways and understand how they connect the environment to a response. The advent of narrow-bandwidth illumination in commercial lighting invites the opportunity to manipulate plant behavior and productivity through precise alteration of the ambient spectrum. This review describes the biochemical links that convert incident light into predictable changes in plant growth and development. These sensors and pathways serve as biochemical switches that can be selectively toggled to control plant growth, development, physiology, or metabolite accumulation.

New modulators of the strawberry flavonoid pathway were identified through correlation network analysis. The transcriptomes of red, ripe fruit from two parental lines and 14 of their progeny were compared, and uncharacterized transcripts matching the expression patterns of known flavonoid-pathway genes were identified. Fifteen transcripts corresponded with putative transcription factors, and several of these were examined experimentally using transient expression in developing fruits. The results suggest that two of the newly-identified regulators likely contribute to discrete nodes of the flavonoid pathway. One increases only LEUCOANTHOCYANIDIN REDUCTASE (LAR) and FLAVONOL 3'-HYDROXYLASE (F3'H) transcript accumulation upon overexpression. Another affects LAR and FLAVONOL SYNTHASE (FLS) after overexpression. The third putative transcription factor appears to be a universal regulator of flavonoid-pathway genes, as many pathway transcripts decrease in abundance when this gene is silenced. This report demonstrates that such systems-level approaches may be especially powerful when connected to an effective transient expression system, helping to provide rapid and strong evidence of gene function in key fruit-ripening processes.