Elucidation of the developmental stages and genes that relates to phase transition in onion cultivars

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K15828
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 39030:Horticultural science-related
• Research Institution: Utsunomiya University
• Principal Investigator: Ikeda Hiroki 宇都宮大学, 農学部, 助教 (90782053)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: タマネギ / 鱗茎肥大 / 成長相転換 / 生育ステージ / 遺伝子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Onion is one of the most important vegetable crops in the world. In this study, we compared changes in plant growth and bulb development of four onion cultivars to elucidate the important developmental stages and genes that relates to phase transition in onion cultivars. A comparison of growth parameters revealed that the increase in total leaf number and area were almost inhibited in winter. In spring, these growth parameters increased rapidly from the early maturing cultivar. Since AcFT1 gene play a key role in the bulb development of cultivated onions, we conducted expression analysis of AcFT1 gene. Correlation analysis of AcFT1 gene expression and total leaf number and area was conducted, and strong positive correlations were observed. Therefore, our study genetically demonstrated that leaf number and area are important for inducing onion bulb development. We also conducted transcriptome analysis, and identified a numerous gene that may relate to the onion bulb development.

Free Research Field

園芸科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

タマネギの鱗茎肥大について、個体レベルと遺伝子など分子レベルの双方の視点から解き明かそうとする研究は、世界的にも限られている。また、鱗茎肥大における植物体の生育ステージの重要性に関する学術的知見は少ない。本研究で遺伝子発現との関連性を解析することで、生育に関する要素の中でも、特に葉数や葉面積が重要であることが明らかとなった。また鱗茎肥大に関する新たな遺伝子も見出しており、本研究の成果は栽培管理の高度化や、新品種育成などにつながると考えられる。