De-novo assembly of mango fruit peel transcriptome reveals mechanisms of mango response to hot water treatment.
BACKGROUND
The mango belongs to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family, Anacardiaceae. Postharvest treatment by hot water brushing (HWB) for 15-20 s was introduced commercially to improve fruit quality and reduce postharvest disease. This treatment enabled successful storage for 3-4 weeks at 12°C, with improved color and reduced disease development, but it enhanced lenticel discoloration on the fruit peel. We investigated global gene expression induced in fruit peel by HWB treatment, and identified key genes involved in mechanisms potentially associated with fruit resistance to pathogens, peel color improvement, and development of lenticel discoloration; this might explain the fruit's phenotypic responses.


RESULTS
The mango transcriptome assembly was created and characterized by application of RNA-seq to fruit-peel samples. RNA-seq-based gene-expression profiling identified three main groups of genes associated with HWB treatment: 1) genes involved with biotic and abiotic stress responses and pathogen-defense mechanisms, which were highly expressed; 2) genes associated with chlorophyll degradation and photosynthesis, which showed transient and low expression; and 3) genes involved with sugar and flavonoid metabolism, which were highly expressed.


CONCLUSIONS
We describe a new transcriptome of mango fruit peel of cultivar Shelly. The existence of three main groups of genes that were differentially expressed following HWB treatment suggests a molecular basis for the biochemical and physiological consequences of the postharvest HWB treatment, including resistance to pathogens, improved color development, and occurrence of lenticel discoloration.
Neta
N
Luria
Noa
N
Sela
Mor
M
Yaari
Oleg
O
Feygenberg
Ilana
I
Kobiler
Amnon
A
Lers
Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, ARO, the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel. dovprusk@volcani.agri.gov.il.
Dov
D
Prusky
D000528:Alternaria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005638:Fruit / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D063990:Gene Ontology; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006358:Hot Temperature; D031022:Mangifera / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D014867:Water / Q000494:pharmacology*
D005419:Flavonoids; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014867:Water