title: Chilling-induced tomato flavor loss is associated with altered volatile synthesis and transient changes in DNA methylation.
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 °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 °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.
authors: 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.
authors: Bo
authors: B
authors: Zhang
authors: Horticultural Sciences, Plant Innovation Center, Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
authors: Denise M
authors: DM
authors: Tieman
authors: 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.
authors: Chen
authors: C
authors: Jiao
authors: 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.
authors: Yimin
authors: Y
authors: Xu
authors: Laboratory of Fruit Quality Biology/Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People's Republic of China.
authors: Kunsong
authors: K
authors: Chen
authors: 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.
authors: Zhangjun
authors: Z
authors: Fei
authors: 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.
authors: James J
authors: JJ
authors: Giovannoni
authors: Horticultural Sciences, Plant Innovation Center, Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; hjklee@ufl.edu.
authors: Harry J
authors: HJ
authors: Klee
mesh_terms: D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D003080:Cold Temperature; D019175:DNA Methylation; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: fruit quality; methylome; transcriptome