A Specific Gibberellin 20-Oxidase Dictates the Flowering-Runnering Decision in Diploid Strawberry

Abstract

Asexual and sexual reproduction occur jointly in many angiosperms. Stolons (elongated stems) are used for asexual reproduction in the crop species potato (<i>Solanum tuberosum</i>) and strawberry (<i>Fragaria</i> spp), where they produce tubers and clonal plants, respectively. In strawberry, stolon production is essential for vegetative propagation at the expense of fruit yield, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. Here, we show that the stolon deficiency trait of the <i>runnerless</i> (<i>r</i>) natural mutant in woodland diploid strawberry (<i>Fragaria vesca</i>) is due to a deletion in the active site of a <i>gibberellin</i><i>20-oxidase</i> (<i>GA20ox</i>) gene, which is expressed primarily in the axillary meristem dome and primordia and in developing stolons. This mutation, which is found in all <i>r</i> mutants, goes back more than three centuries. When <i>FveGA20ox4</i> is mutated, axillary meristems remain dormant or produce secondary shoots terminated by inflorescences, thus increasing the number of inflorescences in the plant. The application of bioactive gibberellin (GA) restored the runnering phenotype in the <i>r</i> mutant, indicating that GA biosynthesis in the axillary meristem is essential for inducing stolon differentiation. The possibility of regulating the runnering-flowering decision in strawberry via <i>FveGA20ox4</i> provides a path for improving productivity in strawberry by controlling the trade-off between sexual reproduction and vegetative propagation.