Transcriptomic events associated with internal browning of apple during postharvest storage

BMC Plant Biology

Research Article

Jim J Giovannoni¹  Christopher B Watkins²  Nigel E Gapper³  Darwish Hatoum⁴  Quang Tri Ho⁴  Ifigeneia Mellidou⁴  Maarten LATM Hertog⁴  Kim Buts⁴  Bart M Nicolai⁵  David R Rudell⁶  Jason W Johnston⁷  Robert J Schaffer⁸ 

[1] Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA;Plant, Soil, and Nutrition Laboratory, US Department of Agriculture/Agriculture Research Service, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA;Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA;Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA;Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA;Division of Mechatronics, Biostatistics and Sensors, Department of Biosystems (BIOSYST), KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, bus 2428, 3001, Leuven, Belgium;Division of Mechatronics, Biostatistics and Sensors, Department of Biosystems (BIOSYST), KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, bus 2428, 3001, Leuven, Belgium;Flanders Centre of Postharvest Technology, Willem de Croylaan 42, 3001, Leuven, Belgium;Fruit Tree Research Laboratory, US Department of Agriculture/Agriculture Research Service, 9880, Wenatchee, WA, USA;The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited, Mount Albert Research Centre, Private Bag 92169, 1142, Auckland, New Zealand;The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited, Mount Albert Research Centre, Private Bag 92169, 1142, Auckland, New Zealand;The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, 1142, Auckland, New Zealand;

关键词: Apple fruit;    Browning disorder;    Metabolic pathways;    Postharvest physiology;    RNA sequencing;    Transcriptomics;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-014-0328-x

 received in 2014-09-08, accepted in 2014-11-07,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPostharvest ripening of apple (Malus x domestica) can be slowed down by low temperatures, and a combination of low O2 and high CO2 levels. While this maintains the quality of most fruit, occasionally storage disorders such as flesh browning can occur. This study aimed to explore changes in the apple transcriptome associated with a flesh browning disorder related to controlled atmosphere storage using RNA-sequencing techniques. Samples from a browning-susceptible cultivar (‘Braeburn’) were stored for four months under controlled atmosphere. Based on a visual browning index, the inner and outer cortex of the stored apples was classified as healthy or affected tissue.ResultsOver 600 million short single-end reads were mapped onto the Malus consensus coding sequence set, and differences in the expression profiles between healthy and affected tissues were assessed to identify candidate genes associated with internal browning in a tissue-specific manner. Genes involved in lipid metabolism, secondary metabolism, and cell wall modifications were highly modified in the affected inner cortex, while energy-related and stress-related genes were mostly altered in the outer cortex. The expression levels of several of them were confirmed using qRT-PCR. Additionally, a set of novel browning-specific differentially expressed genes, including pyruvate dehydrogenase and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase, was validated in apples stored for various periods at different controlled atmosphere conditions, giving rise to potential biomarkers associated with high risk of browning development.ConclusionsThe gene expression data presented in this study will help elucidate the molecular mechanism of browning development in apples at controlled atmosphere storage. A conceptual model, including energy-related (linked to the tricarboxylic acid cycle and the electron transport chain) and lipid-related genes (related to membrane alterations, and fatty acid oxidation), for browning development in apple is proposed, which may be relevant for future studies towards improving the postharvest life of apple.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Mellidou et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.