Abscission is an important developmental process used to shed organs such as leaves, flowers and fruits. Despite the detailed characterization of growth dynamics and hormonal balance during the early steps of fruit development, the molecular aspects remain unclear. Abscission of young fruit occurs by separation of cells in anatomically distinct regions between the pedicel and junction. Differences of gene expression between central pedicel and lateral pedicel were investigated by NGS. Partial cDNAs from 15 clones from both the central pedicel and lateral pedicel were selected for nucleotide sequence determination and homology searches, and 12 clones were subsequently selected for further analysis. In preliminary series of Real Time PCR analysis, 9 genes were confirmed as showing a higher expression level in lateral pedicel than in central pedicel. Many of these genes are expressed in a central or lateral pedicel in specific manner, and the expression profiles of the representative genes were confirmed. To clarify the mechanism of MdIAA14 transcription factor gene underlying abscission zone development, we are investigating the expression patterns between central and lateral pedicels in different apple cultivar using real-time PCR and constructing the vector for transformation into apple.

사과의 경우 한 과총에 5개의 꽃이 피는데 그 중 한 가운데의 중심화가 먼저 개화하여 과일로 발달하고 주위의 측과 4개는 스스로 낙과되는 현상을 자가적과성이라고 한다. 적과는 인위적으로 과실의 숫자를 줄여 잎 수와 과실 수의 균형을 맞추는 작업으로 과실의 크기를 증가시키고, 수세, 수형을 유지시켜 안정적인 생산에 도움을 준다. 노동력 절감을 위해 인간에게 유용하게 사용될 수 있는 특성이 자가적과성인데, 자가적과성 품종의 사과에서 측과는 만개 후 30일