Synergistic effects of plant hormones on spontaneous late-ripening mutant of ‘Jinghong’ peach detected by transcriptome analysis

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Peach (Prunus persica L.) is an ancient fruit tree that originated from China. It is the climacteric fruit belonging to genus Prunus in family Rosaceae. Ethylene, which is produced during ripening, accelerates fruit softening, and therefore peaches cannot be stored for a long time. Materials and Methods To study the mechanism of fruit late ripening, transcriptome analysis of the fruit of a late-ripening mutant of ‘Jinghong’ peach was performed to identify genes and pathways involved in fruit late ripening. Results A total of 1805, 1511, and 2309 genes were found to be differentially expressed in W2_vs_M1, W3_vs_M2, and W3_vs_M3, respectively. Functional enrichment analysis of the differentially expressed genes showed they were related to carotenoid biosynthesis, starch and sucrose metabolism plant hormone signal transduction, flavonoid biosynthesis, and photosynthesis. The expression trends of ripening-related genes that encode transcription factors and plant hormone signal transduction-related genes that encode enzymes were similar. Conclusions It will help to elucidate the transcriptional regulatory network of fruit development in the spontaneous late-ripening mutant of ‘Jinghong’ peach and provide a theoretical basis for understanding the molecular regulatory mechanism of fruit ripening.