Identification of CDF family members in apple and their expression in response to sucrose during floral induction

Abstract

Plant-specific CDF genes encode a class of transcription factors which play crucial roles in plant flowering, especially in photoperiod-regulated flowering. But little is known about the potential functions of MdCDFs during flower induction in apple. In this study, 11 putative MdCDFs were identified and named systematically. Bioinformatic analysis revealed a functional and structural similarity among the MdCDFs. Analysis of tandem and synteny revealed several paired CDF homologs between apple and Arabidopsis. RT-qPCR revealed that MdCDFs exhibited distinct expression patterns in different apple tissues and most of them displayed high expression levels in flowers and leaves. Further expression profiles of MdCDFs were investigated in different-flowering varieties of apple and in response to sugar treatment. The results indicated that MdCDFs were responsive to floral induction. Meanwhile, the expressions of all MdCDFs were inhibited in buds during different floral induction stages after sugar treatment. The expressions of flowering-related and photoperiod pathway-related genes showed differences and may indicate that most of the MdCDFs may function as a light response flowering inhibitor and could be repressed by the sugar-mediated floral induction. Collectively, the comprehensive analysis of MdCDFs provides valuable information on their expression during floral induction that will serve as a foundation for further studies.

Keywords

• cdf
• malus domestica borkh
• sucrose
• gene expression
• floral induction