Developmental regulation of lupulin gland-associated genes in aromatic and bitter hops (Humulus lupulus L.).

BACKGROUND: Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) bitter acids are valuable metabolites for the brewing industry. They are biosynthesized and accumulate in glandular trichomes of the female inflorescence (hop cone). The content of alpha bitter acids, such as humulones, in hop cones can differentiate aromatic from bitter hop cultivars. These contents are subject to genetic and environmental control but significantly correlate with the number and size of glandular trichomes (lupulin glands). RESULTS: We evaluated the expression levels of 37 genes involved in bitter acid biosynthesis and morphological and developmental differentiation of glandular trichomes to identify key regulatory factors involved in bitter acid content differences. For bitter acid biosynthesis genes, upregulation of humulone synthase genes, which are important for the biosynthesis of alpha bitter acids in lupulin glands, could explain the higher accumulation of alpha bitter acids in bitter hops. Several transcription factors, including HlETC1, HlMYB61 and HlMYB5 from the MYB family, as well as HlGLABRA2, HlCYCB2-4, HlZFP8 and HlYABBY1, were also more highly expressed in the bitter hop cultivars; therefore, these factors may be important for the higher density of lupulin glands also seen in the bitter hop cultivars. CONCLUSIONS: Gene expression analyses enabled us to investigate the differences between aromatic and bitter hops. This study confirmed that the bitter acid content in glandular trichomes (lupulin glands) is dependent on the last step of alpha bitter acid biosynthesis and glandular trichome density.

The Influence of Hop Latent Viroid (HLVd) Infection on Gene Expression and Secondary Metabolite Contents in Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) Glandular Trichomes.

Viroids are small infectious pathogens, composed of a short single-stranded circular RNA. Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) plants are hosts to four viroids from the family Pospiviroidae. Hop latent viroid (HLVd) is spread worldwide in all hop-growing regions without any visible symptoms on infected hop plants. In this study, we evaluated the influence of HLVd infection on the content and the composition of secondary metabolites in maturated hop cones, together with gene expression analyses of involved biosynthesis and regulation genes for Saaz, Sládek, Premiant and Agnus cultivars. We confirmed that the contents of alpha bitter acids were significantly reduced in the range from 8.8% to 34% by viroid infection. New, we found that viroid infection significantly reduced the contents of xanthohumol in the range from 3.9% to 23.5%. In essential oils of Saaz cultivar, the contents of monoterpenes, terpene epoxides and terpene alcohols were increased, but the contents of sesquiterpenes and terpene ketones were decreased. Secondary metabolites changes were supported by gene expression analyses, except essential oils. Last-step biosynthesis enzyme genes, namely humulone synthase 1 (HS1) and 2 (HS2) for alpha bitter acids and O-methytransferase 1 (OMT1) for xanthohumol, were down-regulated by viroid infection. We found that the expression of ribosomal protein L5 (RPL5) RPL5 and the splicing of transcription factor IIIA-7ZF were affected by viroid infection and a disbalance in proteosynthesis can influence transcriptions of biosynthesis and regulatory genes involved in of secondary metabolites biosynthesis. We suppose that RPL5/TFIIIA-7ZF regulatory cascade can be involved in HLVd replication as for other viroids of the family Pospiviroidae.

Comparison of genetic diversity structure analyses of SSR molecular marker data within apple (Malus×domestica) genetic resources.

The aim of this study was to compare traditional hierarchical clustering techniques and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) with the model-based Bayesian cluster analyses in relation to subpopulation differentiation based on breeding history and geographical origin of apple (Malus×domestica Borkh.) cultivars and landraces. We presented the use of a set of 10 microsatellite (SSR) loci for genetic diversity structure analyses of 273 apple accessions from national genetic resources. These SSR loci yielded a total of 113 polymorphic SSR alleles, with 5-18 alleles per locus. SSR molecular data were successfully used in binary and allelic input format for all genetic diversity analyses, but allelic molecular data did not reveal reliable results with the NTSYS-pc and BAPS softwares. A traditional cluster analysis still provided an easy and effective way for determining genetic diversity structure in the apple germplasm collection. A model-based Bayesian analysis also provided the clustering results in accordance to traditional cluster analysis, but the analyses were distorted by the presence of a dominant group of apple genetic resources owing to the narrow origin of the apple genome. PCoA confirmed that there were no noticeable differences in genetic diversity structure of apple genetic resources during the breeding history. The results of our analyses are useful in the context of enhancing apple collection management, sampling of core collections, and improving breeding processes.

Evaluation of genetic variability of wild hops (Humulus lupulus L.) in Canada and the Caucasus region by chemical and molecular methods.

Wild hops (Humulus lupulus L.) are potential new germplasms to expand the variability of genetic resources for hop breeding. We evaluated Canadian (62 plants) and Caucasian (58 plants) wild hops by their chemical characteristics and with molecular genetic analyses using sequence-tagged site and simple sequence repeat markers, in comparison with European (104 plants) and North American (27 plants) wild hops. The contents of alpha and beta acids varied from 0.36% to 5.11% and from 0.43% to 6.66% in Canadian wild hops, and from 0.85% to 3.65% and from 1.22% to 4.81% in Caucasian wild hops, respectively. The contents of cohumulone and colupulone distinctly differed between European and North American wild hops: the cohumulone level in alpha acids was in the range 46.1%-68.4% among North American wild hops and in the range 13.6%-30.6% among European wild hops. The high content of myrcene and the low contents of humulene, farnesene, and selinenes were typical for wild hops from Canada, in contrast to wild hops from the Caucasus region. We compared the chemical characteristics with molecular genetic data. Chemical characteristics differentiated wild hops into North American and Eurasian groups. Molecular genetic analysis was able to separate Caucasian wild hops from European wild hops. We proved a hop phylogeny by means of wide molecular analysis.