ABSTRACT
Increasing the level of AsA and maintaining proper lignin content will improve the quality of celery (Apium graveolens L.). However, the study on the regulation mechanism of genes related to AsA and lignin metabolism in celery was limited, especially in yellow celery. In this study, the accumulation of AsA and lignin and the expression profiles of related-genes were detected in three kinds of yellow celery. The results showed that the content of AsA was higher in the leaf blades of ‘Huangtaiji’ and the petioles of ‘Jinhuangqincai’. The content of lignin was the highest in ‘Jinhuangqincai’ leaves, followed by ‘Liuhehuangxinqin’ and ‘Huangtaiji’. The expression levels of AgAO (r = −0.032) and AgDHAR1 (r = −0.193) genes involved in AsA recycling and degradation showed negatively correlated with AsA content. AgCCoAOMT (r = 0.692) and AgF5 H (r = 0.733) genes expression were positively correlated with lignin content, while the expression of AgCAD (r = −0.694) and AgC3ʹH (r = −0.722) genes were negatively correlated with lignin content. Our current work provided potential theoretical basis for effectively changing accumulation of AsA and lignin by genetic engineering in celery.
Author contribution statement
ASX and XD initiated and designed the research; XD, LY, DS, LZC, and SS performed the experiments; XD, AQD, ZSX, and SL analysed the data; ASX and GMX contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools; XD wrote the paper; ASX, JXL, and KF revised the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.