Metabolic profiling of strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa Duch.) during fruit development and maturation

Abstract

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch), a fruit of economic and nutritional importance, is also a model species for fleshy fruits and genomics in Rosaceae. Strawberry fruit quality at different harvest stages is a function of the fruit's metabolite content, which results from physiological changes during fruit growth and ripening. In order to investigate strawberry fruit development, untargeted (GC-MS) and targeted (HPLC) metabolic profiling analyses were conducted. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were employed to explore the non-polar and polar metabolite profiles from fruit samples at seven developmental stages. Different cluster patterns and a broad range of metabolites that exerted influence on cluster formation of metabolite profiles were observed. Significant changes in metabolite levels were found in both fruits turning red and fruits over-ripening in comparison with red-ripening fruits. The levels of free amino acids decreased gradually before the red-ripening stage, but increased significantly in the over-ripening stage. Metabolite correlation and network analysis revealed the interdependencies of individual metabolites and metabolic pathways. Activities of several metabolic pathways, including ester biosynthesis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the shikimate pathway, and amino acid metabolism, shifted during fruit growth and ripening. These results not only confirmed published metabolic data but also revealed new insights into strawberry fruit composition and metabolite changes, thus demonstrating the value of metabolomics as a functional genomics tool in characterizing the mechanism of fruit quality formation, a key developmental stage in most economically important fruit crops.

Functional Promiscuity of Two Divergent Paralogs of Type III Plant Polyketide Synthases

“…The promoter region of CHS has numerous cis-acting regulatory elements related to tissue specificity, stress, and phytohormones, among others, and they are induced by developmental and environmental factors such as UV light, wounding, and treatment with elicitors (Zhang et al, 2011). To gain insight into the regulatory mechanism of ReCHS promoter regions, the relative transcript levels were assayed in response to the application of endogenous and exogenous elicitors to understand their inducible/repressible nature and to substantiate these results with the recognized cis-acting elements (Table II; Supplemental Fig.…”

Metabolite Composition of Grapefruit (<i>Citrus paradisi</i>) Grown in Japan Depends on the Growing Environment and Harvest Period

“…In fact, GC/MS-based metabolite profiling has already been applied to tomatoes (Solanum lycoperstcum), strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa), and peaches (Prunus persica), in order to analyze the dynamics of metabolite composition during fruit development (Fait et al, 2008;Lombardo et al, 2011;Mintz-Oron et al, 2008;Zhang et al, 2011). The present study focused on the low molecular weight metabolites of grapefruit, including sugars, organic acids, amino acids, and other primary metabolites, which together are directly responsible for sweetness, acidity, and other characteristics and also indirectly influence bitterness, aroma, as well as the functionality of secondary metabolites.…”

Alteration of the Interconversion of Pyruvate and Malate in the Plastid or Cytosol of Ripening Tomato Fruit Invokes Diverse Consequences on Sugar But Similar Effects on Cellular Organic Acid, Metabolism, and Transitory Starch Accumulation

“…Insights into the genetic mechanisms that mediate fruit ripening-related processes, such as cell wall metabolism, pigment synthesis, and sugar metabolism, have resulted from studies that collectively span a wide range of plant species and indicate that they are broadly conserved (Seymour et al, 2008;Moing et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2011). However, certain speciesspecific differences exist in the dynamics of other metabolite pools across ripening, with, for example, grape (Vitis vinifera), strawberry (Fragaria 3 ananassa), prune (Prunus domestica), and pepper (Capsicum annuum) displaying slightly different metabolic programs from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum; Zamboni et al, 2010;Lombardo et al, 2011;Osorio et al, 2011Osorio et al, , 2012Zhang et al, 2011). This fact notwithstanding, tomato has become the primary experimental model in which to study the development and ripening of fleshy fruits (Giovannoni, 2004;Fernandez et al, 2009).…”