The Fruit Proteome Response to the Ripening Stages in Three Tomato Genotypes.

Hyo-Gil Choi,Nam-Jun Kang,Dong-Young Park

doi:10.3390/plants11040553

Abstract

The tomato is a horticultural crop that appears in various colors as it ripens. Differences in the proteome expression abundance of a tomato depend on its genotype and ripening stage. Thus, this study aimed to confirm the differences in changes in the proteome according to four ripening stages (green, breaker, turning, and mature) of three tomato genotypes, i.e., yellow, black, and red tomatoes, using a gel-based proteomic technique. The number of protein spots shown as two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gels differed according to tomato genotype and ripening stage. A total of 286 variant proteins were determined using matrix-assisted laser desorption-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) analysis, confirming 233 identified protein functions. In three tomato genotypes in each ripening stage, grouping according to the Munich Information Center for Protein Sequences (MIPS) functional categories confirmed the variant proteins involved in the following: energy processes (21%); metabolism (20%); protein fate (15%); protein synthesis (10%); a protein with a binding function or cofactor requirement (8%); cell rescue, defense, and virulence (8%); cellular transport, transport facilitation, and transport routes (6%); the biogenesis of cellular components (5%); cell cycle and DNA processing (2%); others (5%). Among the identified protein spots in the function category, two proteins related to metabolism, four related to energy, four related to protein synthesis, and two related to interaction with the cellular environment showed significantly different changes according to the fruit color by the ripening stage. This study reveals the physiological changes in different types of tomatoes according to their ripening stage and provides information on the proteome for further improvement.

Highlights

The tomato is a vegetable of the species of Solanum lycopersicum and contains good nutrients and phytochemicals [1]
It was confirmed that the expression abundance of functional proteins in the tomatoes of different fruit genotypes was different at each ripening stage (Table 2)
Our findings showed that the abundance of proteins involved in glycolysis (GAPDH and PGK) and ethylene (SAM synthetase) biosynthesis increased in the early ripening stages compared to the late ripening stage; it can be seen that the early ripening stage of fruit uses a high amount of energy, and that ethylene plays a significant role

Summary

Introduction

The tomato is a vegetable of the species of Solanum lycopersicum and contains good nutrients and phytochemicals [1]. It is cultivated worldwide, and it is often grown in a greenhouse during the winter season in Korea. Tomatoes of all colors have a high chlorophyll content without other pigments at the early stage of maturation, so they are all green, but as they ripen, they show various colors depending on the type of phytochemicals. In red fruit, the lutein content is very low, but the lycopene content is significantly higher [1,6,9,10]. Black fruit is known to have a significantly higher β-carotene content than red fruit [1,8]

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Discussion

Conclusion