The peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) genome harbours 10 KNOX genes, which are differentially expressed in stem development, and the class 1 KNOPE1 regulates elongation and lignification during primary growth.

The KNOTTED-like (KNOX) genes encode homeodomain transcription factors and regulate several processes of plant organ development. The peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) genome was found to contain 10 KNOX members (KNOPE genes); six of them were experimentally located on the Prunus reference map and the class 1 KNOPE1 was found to link to a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for the internode length in the peach×Ferganensis population. All the KNOPE genes were differentially transcribed in the internodes of growing shoots; the KNOPE1 mRNA abundance decreased progressively from primary (elongation) to secondary growth (radial expansion). During primary growth, the KNOPE1 mRNA was localized in the cortex and in the procambium/metaphloem zones, whereas it was undetected in incipient phloem and xylem fibres. KNOPE1 overexpression in the Arabidopsis bp4 loss-of-function background (35S:KNOPE1/bp genotype) restored the rachis length, suggesting, together with the QTL association, a role for KNOPE1 in peach shoot elongation. Several lignin biosynthesis genes were up-regulated in the bp4 internodes but repressed in the 35S:KNOPE1/bp lines similarly to the wild type. Moreover, the lignin deposition pattern of the 35S:KNOPE1/bp and the wild-type internodes were the same. The KNOPE1 protein was found to recognize in vitro one of the typical KNOX DNA-binding sites that recurred in peach and Arabidopsis lignin genes. KNOPE1 expression was inversely correlated with that of lignin genes and lignin deposition along the peach shoot stems and was down-regulated in lignifying vascular tissues. These data strongly support that KNOPE1 prevents cell lignification by repressing lignin genes during peach stem primary growth.