Knockdown of Sly-miR164a by short tandem target mimic (STTM) enhanced postharvest chilling tolerance of tomato fruit under low temperature storage

Abstract

The function of Sly-miR164a on postharvest chilling tolerance of tomato fruit was investigated. In the present results, compared with the wild type (WT) fruit in the red and green maturity stage, overexpression of Sly-miR164a (miR164a-OE) promoted postharvest chilling injury (CI) of tomato fruit. Compared with the WT and miR164a-OE fruit, the postharvest CI index of tomato fruit of knockdown of Sly-miR164a (STTM 164a) by short tandem target mimic (STTM) was decreased, the content of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was reduced, and the fruit firmness was increased. In STTM 164a fruit, the relative expression levels of NAC1, NAM3, GOB, CBF1, COR, NCDE1, and NCDE2 were increased, the ABA content was enhanced, and the relative expression levels of CYP707A1 and CYP707A2 were decreased. The present study indicated that the knockdown of Sly-miR164a enhanced the postharvest chilling tolerance of tomato fruit during low temperature storage, and provided valuable information for genetically modifying miR164a and controlling postharvest CI of fruit.