Transcriptomic Analysis on the Regulation of Tomato Ripening by the Ethylene Inhibitor 1-methylcyclopropene

Abstract

Tomato is a climacteric fruit whose ripening is regulated by the plant hormone ethylene. 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) is a competitive ethylene inhibitor that can delay the fruit ripening process. To understand the molecular mechanism of how 1-MCP inhibits tomato fruit ripening, transcriptomics (RNA-Seq) was used to identify genes that were differentially expressed in 1-MCP-treated (Day 1) tomato fruits. Of the 35340 genes in the tomato genome, about 50% were expressed with 1-MCP treatment. There were 5683 genes identified as significantly differentially expressed. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) assays were used to validate the RNA-Seq data. Our results showed that 1-MCP treatment resulted in the down-regulation of fruit ripening-related genes, including genes involved in ethylene synthesis, signal transduction and carotenoid biosynthesis. Our results provide insight at the whole genome level regarding gene regulation by 1-MCP during fruit ripening. Understanding the molecular basis of 1-MCP inhibition on tomato ripening may help farmers and food processors to better use 1-MCP in agriculture and food industry.

Transcriptomics Analysis of Tomato Ripening Regulated by Carbon Dioxide

“…On d7, highly expressed ACS2 carried out the transition from S1 to S2; furthermore, ACS2 in combination with ACS4 promoted peak ethylene production. Ethylene regulates ripening by binding to the ethylene receptor and activating signal transduction pathways [10,22]. In comparison with the T1 method, the CO 2 induced by the T2 method further suppressed Solyc09g075440 gene expression and activated the positive regulatory molecule ethylene insensitive 2 (Table 3); all of these factors together impacted ethylene production during the entire process of tomato ripening.…”

“…RNA sample preparation and sequencing were performed as previously reported [22]. Briefly, RNA samples were extracted from the pericarps of tomatoes from the T1, T2, and CT groups on days 0, 1, 3, and 7, and RNA extracted using an RNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA, USA).…”

“…The synthesis of cDNA was performed using an Applied Biosystems GeneAmp PCR System 9700 (ThermoFisher, Foster City, CA, USA) as described previously [22]. Primers designed using Primer3 (v.0.4.0) software based on the gene sequences are listed in Supplementary Table S1.…”

Transcriptomics of Listeria monocytogenes Treated With Olive Leaf Extract

“…Synthesis of cDNA was performed as previously described (Liu and Ream, 2008) with spoG used as an internal control. The Quant Studio 6 Flex real-time PCR system (Thermo Fisher, Foster City, CA) was employed for the quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis as previously described (Bobokalonov et al, 2018), and all experiments were performed in triplicate.…”

“…RNA-Seq technology has been used to replace microarrays for the study of gene expression patterns in bacterial cells and plants. For example, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in tomatoes have been identified in response to ethylene inhibitor 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment (Bobokalonov et al, 2018). In another study, DEGs in L. monocytogenes treated with organic acid (sodium lactate) were identified using RNA-Seq technology (Suo et al, 2018).…”