Comparative transcriptomic profiling of peach and nectarine cultivars reveals cultivar-specific responses to chilled postharvest storage

Muto, Antonella, Bruno, Leonardo, Madeo, Maria Letizia, Ludlow, Richard, Ferrari, Michele, Stimpson, Louise, LoGiudice, Claudio, Picardi, Ernesto, Ferrante, Antonio, Pasti, Luisa, Müller, Carsten T., Chiappetta, Adriana Ada Ceverista, Rogers, Hilary J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3830-5857, Bitonti, Maria Beatrice and Spadafora, Natasha Damiana 2022. Comparative transcriptomic profiling of peach and nectarine cultivars reveals cultivar-specific responses to chilled postharvest storage. Frontiers in Plant Science 13 , 1062194. 10.3389/fpls.2022.1062194

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Abstract

Introduction: Peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch,) and nectarine fruits (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, var nectarine), are characterized by a rapid deterioration at room temperature. Therefore, cold storage is widely used to delay fruit post-harvest ripening and extend fruit commercial life. Physiological disorders, collectively known as chilling injury, can develop typically after 3 weeks of low-temperature storage and affect fruit quality. Methods: A comparative transcriptomic analysis was performed to identify regulatory pathways that develop before chilling injury symptoms are detectable using next generation sequencing on the fruits of two contrasting cultivars, one peach (Sagittaria) and one nectarine, (Big Top), over 14 days of postharvest cold storage. Results: There was a progressive increase in the number of differentially expressed genes between time points (DEGs) in both cultivars. More (1264) time point DEGs were identified in ‘Big Top’ compared to ‘Sagittaria’ (746 DEGs). Both cultivars showed a downregulation of pathways related to photosynthesis, and an upregulation of pathways related to amino sugars, nucleotide sugar metabolism and plant hormone signal transduction with ethylene pathways being most affected. Expression patterns of ethylene related genes (including biosynthesis, signaling and ERF transcription factors) correlated with genes involved in cell wall modification, membrane composition, pathogen and stress response, which are all involved later during storage in development of chilling injury. Discussion: Overall, the results show that common pathways are activated in the fruit of ‘Big Top’ nectarine and ‘Sagittaria’ peach in response to cold storage but include also differences that are cultivar-specific responses.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Publisher:	Frontiers Media
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 December 2022
Date of Acceptance:	7 November 2022
Last Modified:	06 May 2023 02:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/154803

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