The oil palm VIRESCENS gene controls fruit colour and encodes a R2R3-MYB

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 4106
• Main Authors: Singh, Rajinder, Low, Eng-Ti Leslie, Ooi, Leslie Cheng-Li, Ong-Abdullah, Meilina, Nookiah, Rajanaidu, Ting, Ngoot-Chin, Marjuni, Marhalil, Chan, Pek-Lan, Ithnin, Maizura, Manaf, Mohd Arif Abdul, Nagappan, Jayanthi, Chan, Kuang-Lim, Rosli, Rozana, Halim, Mohd Amin, Azizi, Norazah, Budiman, Muhammad A., Lakey, Nathan, Bacher, Blaire, Van Brunt, Andrew, Wang, Chunyan, Hogan, Michael, He, Dong, MacDonald, Jill D., Smith, Steven W., Ordway, Jared M., Martienssen, Robert A., Sambanthamurthi, Ravigadevi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 30-06-2014; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Pub. Group
• Subjects: 38/39; 631/208/2491; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Fruit - genetics; Fruit - growth & development; Fruit - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Humanities and Social Sciences; Molecular Sequence Data; multidisciplinary; Nandiniidae - classification; Nandiniidae - genetics; Nandiniidae - metabolism; Pancreatitis-Associated Proteins; Phylogeny; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants - classification; Plants - genetics; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5106

Oil palm, a plantation crop of major economic importance in Southeast Asia, is the predominant source of edible oil worldwide. We report the identification of the
VIRESCENS (VIR)
gene, which controls fruit exocarp colour and is an indicator of ripeness.
VIR
is a R2R3-MYB transcription factor with homology to
Lilium LhMYB12
and similarity to Arabidopsis
PRODUCTION OF ANTHOCYANIN PIGMENT
1 (
PAP1
). We identify five independent mutant alleles of
VIR
in over 400 accessions from sub-Saharan Africa that account for the dominant-negative
virescens
phenotype. Each mutation results in premature termination of the carboxy-terminal domain of VIR, resembling McClintock’s
C1-I
allele in maize. The abundance of alleles likely reflects cultural practices, by which fruits were venerated for magical and medicinal properties. The identification of
VIR
will allow selection of the trait at the seed or early-nursery stage, 3-6 years before fruits are produced, greatly advancing introgression into elite breeding material.
Fruit colour is a trait that affects the harvesting, and therefore oil yield, of the economically important oil palm. Here, the authors identify a gene that may control fruit colour in the oil palm and suggest that selection for this gene during early development could advance the breeding potential of this important crop.