Abstract
Peach is prone to postharvest chilling injury (CI). Here it was found that exogenous ethylene alleviated CI, accompanied by an increased endogenous ethylene production. Ethylene treatment resulted in a moderately more rapid flesh softening as a result of stronger expression of genes encoding expansin and cell wall hydrolases, especially xylosidase and galactosidase. Ethylene treatment alleviated internal browning, accompanied by changes in expression of polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and lipoxygenases. An enhanced content of phospholipids and glycerolipids and a reduced content of ceramide were observed in ethylene-treated fruit, and these were associated with up-regulation of lipid phosphate phosphatase, fatty acid alpha-hydroxylase, and golgi-localized nucleotide sugar transporter, as well as down-regulation of aminoalcohol phosphotransferases. Expression of two ethylene response factors (ERFs), ESE3 and ABR1, was highly correlated with that of genes involved in cell wall metabolism and lipid metabolism, respectively. Furthermore, the expression of these two ERFs was strongly regulated by ethylene treatment and the temperature changes during transfer of fruit into or out of cold storage. It is proposed that ERFs fulfill roles as crucial integrators between cell wall modifications and lipid metabolism involved in CI processes ameliorated by exogenous ethylene.
Highlights
Peach can develop chilling injury (CI) during cold storage or after transfer to the shelf when the fruit were stored for long periods [1,2]
Ethylene levels of control fruit showed a lower value during cold storage and during the subsequent +2 d on the shelf, while a significantly higher level of ethylene production was observed in fruit treated with exogenous ethylene during 28 d of cold storage and +2 d of shelf storage (Figure 1a)
Other ethylene response factors (ERFs) were found to co-express with lipid metabolism related genes in the MEturquoise and other modules (Figure S8). These results suggested that lipid genes aminoalcohol phosphotransferase (AAPT), FAH, GONST1, and AAPT might be regulated by ABR1 and all these genes are involved in ethylene-alleviated fruit CI
Summary
Peach can develop chilling injury (CI) during cold storage or after transfer to the shelf when the fruit were stored for long periods [1,2]. It is generally accepted that the browning of fruit under low temperature is often associated with damage to membrane integrity [7,8]. Cells 2019, 8, 1612 integrity and mobility of cell membranes and a higher unsaturation of membrane lipids leads to an enhanced tolerance to chilling stress by maintaining membrane fluidity in peach [8]. Benefiting from the breakthrough of lipid analysis technology, the role and mechanism of lipid metabolism changes in plant cold stress responses has recently been investigated. The changes of lipid composition and key related genes that respond to low temperature stress have been identified, indicating that phospholipid and sphingolipid (especially ceramide, Cer) metabolism play important roles in plant tolerance to cold stress [9,10,11,12]
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