Influence factors and gene expression patterns during MeJa-induced gummosis in peach

Jasmonates (JAs) play important roles in gummosis in peach. Mechanical damage, methyl jasmonate (MeJa), and ethylene can induce gummosis on peach shoots in the field. In this study, we used MeJa (2%, w/w) to induce gummosis on current-year shoots in peach on high temperature (35°C). Based on the experimental model, we studied the influence of factors on the development of peach gummosis. Our experimental results showed that high temperature could promote gummosis development induced by MeJa. Exogenous CaCl2 treatment reduced the degree of gummosis by increasing the calcium content in shoots, which is conducive to the synthesis and maintenance of the cell wall. Using digital gene expression (DGE), 3831 differentially expressed genes were identified in the MeJa treatment versus the control. By analyzing changes in gene expression associated with cell wall degradation, genes encoding pectin methylesterase (PME) and endo-polygalacturonase (PG) were found to be significantly induced, suggesting that they are key enzymes in cell wall degradation that occurs during MeJa-induced gummosis. Genes for glycosyltransferase (GT) and cellulose synthase (CS) were also significantly upregulated by MeJa. This result suggests that MeJa treatment not only promotes the degradation of polysaccharides to destroy the cell wall, but also promotes the synthesis of new polysaccharides. We also analyzed changes in gene expression associated with sugar metabolism, senescence, and defense. MeJa treatment affected the expression of genes related to sugar metabolism and promoted plant senescence. Among the defense genes, the expression pattern of phenylalanine ammonium lyase (PAL) suggested that PAL may play an important role in protecting against the effects of MeJa treatment. Our experimental results showed that MeJa treatment can promote the biosynthesis and signal transduction of ethylene in peach shoots; they can induce gummosis on peach shoots respectively, and there are overlaps between the molecular mechanisms of gummosis induced by them, the intersection point between them remains unclear.