Sugar accumulation and characterization of metabolizing enzyme genes in leafy head of Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp. pekinensis)

Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp. pekinensis) is a widely cultivated vegetable crop in eastern Asia. The flavor of Chinese cabbage was mostly affected by soluble sugar content. To make clear its accumulation and regulation mechanism, the content of different sugars in the internal blade (IB), the internal midrib (IM), the external blade (EB) and the external midrib (EM) of the leafy head were determined during the leafy head formation. The results showed that fructose was the major sugar accumulated in the internal tissues, followed by glucose. IM was the main tissue of sugar accumulation with the highest contents of total soluble sugar and hexose at harvest. RNA sequencing data of the four tissues at 90 DAS showed that the number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in IB and IM was the least (2408), while the number of DEGs between the external and internal tissues ranged from 6037 to 8674. The enzyme genes differentially expressed in ‘starch and sucrose metabolism’ pathway was detected during the leafy head development. The expression of two sucrose synthase (SUS) genes, SUS1a (Bra002332) and SUS1b (Bra006587), were always higher in IM than in the other tissues, and positively correlated with the content of total soluble sugar and hexose, respectively. SUS1 was considered to play an important role in leafy head development and sugar accumulation in Chinese cabbage.