Identification of candidate genes related to astringency in cucumber via RNA-seq based transcriptome profiling

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is one of the most important fruit vegetable crops and is widely grown worldwide (FAO STAT 2016, http://faostat3.fao.org). Astringency greatly affects the flavor quality of cucumber fruits and can be irritating due to the unpleasant oral sensation it causes. However, there are no available report addressing the molecular mechanisms driving the development of cucumber fruit astringency at the transcriptome level. A few relatively basic research efforts have been carried out in our previous studies. In this study, genome-wide analysis of gene expression in the highly astringent cucumber inbred line ‘YB’ was performed using RNA-seq. The aims of this research were to identify the genes responsible for fruit astringency development and to provide new insights into the mechanism underlying the synthesis of astringent compounds in cucumber fruits. Peel and flesh of the cucumber inbred line ‘YB’ at 3, 6 and 9 days after slef-pollination were dissected separately for RNA-seq analysis.