title: Systems approach for exploring the intricate associations between sweetness, color and aroma in melon fruits.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Melon (Cucumis melo) fruits exhibit phenotypic diversity in several key quality determinants such as taste, color and aroma. Sucrose, carotenoids and volatiles are recognized as the key compounds shaping the above corresponding traits yet the full network of biochemical events underlying their synthesis have not been comprehensively described. To delineate the cellular processes shaping fruit quality phenotypes, a population of recombinant inbred lines (RIL) was used as a source of phenotypic and genotypic variations. In parallel, ripe fruits were analyzed for both the quantified level of 77 metabolic traits directly associated with fruit quality and for RNA-seq based expression profiles generated for 27,000 unigenes. First, we explored inter-metabolite association patterns; then, we described metabolites versus gene association patterns; finally, we used the correlation-based associations for predicting uncharacterized synthesis pathways.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on metabolite versus metabolite and metabolite versus gene association patterns, we divided metabolites into two key groups: a group including ethylene and aroma determining volatiles whose accumulation patterns are correlated with the expression of genes involved in the glycolysis and TCA cycle pathways; and a group including sucrose and color determining carotenoids whose accumulation levels are correlated with the expression of genes associated with plastid formation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study integrates multiple processes into a genome scale perspective of cellular activity. This lays a foundation for deciphering the role of gene markers associated with the determination of fruit quality traits.
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. shiri@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Shiri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Freilich
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. shery.lev@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Shery
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lev
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. itaygonda@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Itay
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gonda
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. reuvenieli@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Eli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Reuveni
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. portnoyv@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Vitaly
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Portnoy
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. elad.oren@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Elad
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oren
authors.affiliation: Targenomix GmbH, Potsdam, Germany. lohse@mpimp-golm.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lohse
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. navot.galpaz@mail.huji.ac.il.|Migal Research Institute, Kiryat Shmona, 11016, Israel. navot.galpaz@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Navot
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Galpaz
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. bareinat@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Einat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bar
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. galilt@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Galil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tzuri
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. guywissotsky@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wissotsky
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. meira@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Ayala
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meir
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. burgery@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. tadmory@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Yaakov
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tadmor
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. vcaris@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schaffer
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS and Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA. zf25@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Zhangjun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS and Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA. jjg33@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Giovannoni
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. twefraim@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Efraim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lewinsohn
authors.affiliation: Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel. katzirn@volcani.agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Nurit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Katzir
mesh_terms: D003116:Color; D019662:Cucurbitaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D017343:Genes, Plant; D009812:Odorants; D013649:Taste