| Title: | Chilling-induced tomato flavor loss is associated with altered volatile synthesis and transient changes in DNA methylation |
| Author(s): | Zhang B; Tieman DM; Jiao C; Xu Y; Chen K; Fei Z; Giovannoni JJ; Klee HJ; |
| Address: | "Horticultural Sciences, Plant Innovation Center, Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. Laboratory of Fruit Quality Biology/Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People's Republic of China. Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. US Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Horticultural Sciences, Plant Innovation Center, Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; hjklee@ufl.edu" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1091-6490 (Electronic) 0027-8424 (Print) 0027-8424 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Commercial tomatoes are widely perceived by consumers as lacking flavor. A major part of that problem is a postharvest handling system that chills fruit. Low-temperature storage is widely used to slow ripening and reduce decay. However, chilling results in loss of flavor. Flavor-associated volatiles are sensitive to temperatures below 12 degrees C, and their loss greatly reduces flavor quality. Here, we provide a comprehensive view of the effects of chilling on flavor and volatiles associated with consumer liking. Reduced levels of specific volatiles are associated with significant reductions in transcripts encoding key volatile synthesis enzymes. Although expression of some genes critical to volatile synthesis recovers after a return to 20 degrees C, some genes do not. RNAs encoding transcription factors essential for ripening, including RIPENING INHIBITOR (RIN), NONRIPENING, and COLORLESS NONRIPENING are reduced in response to chilling and may be responsible for reduced transcript levels in many downstream genes during chilling. Those reductions are accompanied by major changes in the methylation status of promoters, including RIN Methylation changes are transient and may contribute to the fidelity of gene expression required to provide maximal beneficial environmental response with minimal tangential influence on broader fruit developmental biology" |
| Keywords: | "Biosynthetic Pathways/genetics *Cold Temperature *DNA Methylation Fruit/chemistry/*genetics/metabolism Gene Expression Regulation, Plant Solanum lycopersicum/chemistry/*genetics/metabolism Plant Proteins/genetics/metabolism Principal Component Analysis Pr;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineZhang, Bo Tieman, Denise M Jiao, Chen Xu, Yimin Chen, Kunsong Fei, Zhangjun Giovannoni, James J Klee, Harry J eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. 2016/11/03 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Nov 1; 113(44):12580-12585. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1613910113. Epub 2016 Oct 17" |
