Fig. 6: Effects of PT^H mutation and FUL2 overexpression on auxin distribution and the formation of fruit with pointed tips.

a–c Morphology of the distal end (a) and pointed tip percentages (b, c) of fruits from LA4053, CR-pt^R, and CR-pt^H treated with naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA). LA4053, CR-pt^R, and CR-pt^H produced fruit with pointed tips. d, e Morphology of the distal end (d) and pointed tip percentages (e) of fruits from TS-9 treated with 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (PCPA). TS-9 produced fruit with a non-pointed tip. The flowers during anthesis were sprayed with 100 mg/L NPA (a) or 20 mg/L PCPA (d), respectively. The treatments were alternated every day and each treatment was carried out three times. Twenty fruits from each replicate were harvested and recorded for the morphologies (pointed tip or non-pointed tip). Error bars indicate mean ± SE. n = 3 biological replicates. Statistically significant differences were determined using a two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test (b, c) and two-tailed t-test (e). f–h Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-carboxaldehyde (ICA), and methyl indole-3-acetate (ME-IAA) content at the distal end of fruit from CR-pt^H, FUL2-OE, and wild-type (TS-9). The fruit was harvested at 14 DPA. i–m Relative expression levels of PIN4 (i), PIN5 (j), PIN9 (k), PIN10 (l), and LAX3 (m) at the distal end of fruit from CR-pt^H, FUL2-OE, and wild-type (TS-9). The fruit was harvested at 14 DPA. Error bars indicate mean ± SE. n = 3 biological replicates. Statistically significant differences were determined using one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test. Different letters indicate statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). Source data underlying Fig. 6b, c, e–m are provided as a Source Data file.