ChSCL9 negatively regulates citric acid accumulation via repressing PH4 - PH5 module in kumquat

Clicks: 1
ID: 319376
2026
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal

Ranked #465 of 501 articles by views in Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 501 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Abstract
Citric acid is the major organic acid affecting citrus fruit taste, which varies widely in the citrus family. An acidless kumquat, a small-fruited citrus species (Citrus crassifolia), has been developed and has become popular on the market. To investigate the molecular basis of the acidless phenotype in Huapi (HP) kumquat, it was crossed with early-flowering, high-acid Hong Kong (HK) kumquat to generate an F1 population, providing a system to dissect the genetic and molecular basis of citric acid accumulation. Organic acid content exhibited a wide and continuous distribution across three consecutive years, which is consistent with quantitative inheritance. Bulked segregant analysis sequencing mapped a major locus, and integration with transcriptomic data identified the GRAS transcription factor SCARECROW-like protein 9 (ChSCL9) as a candidate major-effect gene, showing high expression in HP fruit and low expression in HK fruit. Subcellular localization confirmed that ChSCL9 is a transcription factor. Functional analyses-including CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, overexpression in kumquat, and RNA interference (RNAi) in citrus juice sacs-demonstrated that ChSCL9 negatively regulates citric acid accumulation. Biochemical experiments showed that ChSCL9 directly represses the expression of the R2R3-MYB gene ChPH4 and the vacuolar P-ATPase gene ChPH5, both of which are key genes for vacuolar acidification, thereby inhibiting citric acid accumulation. These results identify ChSCL9 as a key regulator of citric acid in kumquat, reveal an upstream regulator of PH4, and provide targets for citrus flavor improvement and rational design for citrus breeding.
Reference Key
openalex_W7166873438 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Juan Sun, Anqi Zhao, Zhihao Lu, Haofeng Hu, Liting Wang, H T Wang, Li Liao, Xuhe Liu, Yang Lu, Chenqiao Zhu, Chuanwu Chen, Huihui Jia, J. L. Xu, Jie Wei, Xiuxin Deng, X Y Wang, Jialing Fu, Qiang Xu
Journal Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/plphys/kiag418
URL
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.