1-methylcyclopropylene or methyl jasmonate-induced chilling tolerance in a stony hard peach cultivar

Abstract

Chilling injury (CI) is a severe problem for peach fruit during cold storage. Application of 1-methylcyclopropylene (1-MCP) or methyl jasmonate (MeJA),can alleviate CI in melting flesh peach fruit. However, no information was available about 1-MCP or MeJA on chilling tolerance in stony hard peach fruit and their regulatory mechanisms. In this study, the effects of 10 μmol L−1 1-MCP or 10 μmol L−1 MeJA treatment on CI development, sucrose metabolism, and energy metabolism in stony hard peach fruit cv. ‘Yingshuanghong’ (YSH) were investigated during cold storage. The results showed that 10 μmol L−1 1-MCP or MeJA significantly inhibited the CI index, while MeJA was more effective. Also, both 1-MCP and MeJA treatments had a noticeable impact on energy and sucrose metabolisms. However, 1-MCP treatment was more effective in maintaining a stable and high energy status during cold storage, which might be contributed to alleviating CI. In contrast, MeJA treatment was more effective in regulating sucrose metabolism via activating sucrose synthesis and suppressing sucrose degradation at both the enzymatic and the transcript levels, which might play a crucial role in MeJA-induced cold tolerance. In general, ‘the 1-MCP or MeJA-induced chilling tolerance in stony hard peach fruit cv. ‘YSH’ was attributed to the activation of sucrose and mitochondrial energy metabolisms.