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Functional Molecules in Locally-Adapted Crops: The Case Study of Tomatoes, Onions, and Sweet Cherry Fruits From Tuscany in Italy.

ABSTRACT: The human diet is characterized by highly energetic molecules, but it also requires non-energetic compounds that are equally useful for cell functioning and for preserving the organism's health status. These "functional" molecules are represented by a wide variety of plant secondary metabolites, such as terpenoids, vitamins and polyphenols with antioxidant power. Widespread commercial crop varieties often contain scarce levels of functional molecules, because they have been mostly selected for productivity, rather than for the content of secondary metabolites. Different scenarios (global economic situation, foreseeable environmental changes) are pushing farmers to review the use of high yield crops and to focus on the valorization of locally-adapted plants. This renewed interest is strengthened by the growing need of consumers for functional foods with beneficial effects on human health and by the willingness to promote sustainable low-input agricultural practices exploiting local climate, soil, water, and (micro)biota. Here, we want to discuss a specific case study concerning locally-adapted crops in Tuscany (Italy). Analyses of nutraceutical molecules in locally-grown crop varieties (namely tomatoes, sweet cherries and onions) have shown that they are characterized by substantially higher functional molecule contents than commercial varieties. Our goal is to promote the high-throughput study of locally-adapted varieties to understand, in a medium-term perspective, whether the cultivation of such plants is a valuable support for the diet and an adequate local economic resource. Such plants can provide a boost to the regional economy, by diversifying the local crop-market landscape. Moreover, the exploitation of locally-grown plants results in the manufacture of fully-traceable products (from the raw bioresource to the finished product) with a "0 km" concept that minimizes the C footprint.

SUBMITTER: Berni R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6341061 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundFruit color is one of the most important economic traits of the sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.). The red coloration of sweet cherry fruit is mainly attributed to anthocyanins. However, limited information is available regarding the molecular mechanisms underlying anthocyanin biosynthesis and its regulation in sweet cherry.Methodology/principal findingsIn this study, a reference transcriptome of P. avium L. was sequenced and annotated to identify the transcriptional determinants of fruit color. Normalized cDNA libraries from red and yellow fruits were sequenced using the next-generation Illumina/Solexa sequencing platform and de novo assembly. Over 66 million high-quality reads were assembled into 43,128 unigenes using a combined assembly strategy. Then a total of 22,452 unigenes were compared to public databases using homology searches, and 20,095 of these unigenes were annotated in the Nr protein database. Furthermore, transcriptome differences between the four stages of fruit ripening were analyzed using Illumina digital gene expression (DGE) profiling. Biological pathway analysis revealed that 72 unigenes were involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis. The expression patterns of unigenes encoding phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL), chalcone synthase (CHS), chalcone isomerase (CHI), flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H), flavanone 3'-hydroxylase (F3'H), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) and UDP glucose: flavonol 3-O-glucosyltransferase (UFGT) during fruit ripening differed between red and yellow fruit. In addition, we identified some transcription factor families (such as MYB, bHLH and WD40) that may control anthocyanin biosynthesis. We confirmed the altered expression levels of eighteen unigenes that encode anthocyanin biosynthetic enzymes and transcription factors using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).Conclusions/significanceThe obtained sweet cherry transcriptome and DGE profiling data provide comprehensive gene expression information that lends insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying anthocyanin biosynthesis. These results will provide a platform for further functional genomic research on this fruit crop.

Project description:Gibberellin (GA) negatively affects color evolution and other ripening-related processes in non-climacteric fruits. The bioactive GA, gibberellic acid (GA3), is commonly applied at the light green-to-straw yellow transition to increase firmness and delay ripening in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.), though causing different effects depending on the variety. Recently, we reported that GA3 delayed the IAD parameter (a ripening index) in a mid-season variety, whereas GA3 did not delay IAD but reduced it at ripeness in an early-season variety. To further explore this contrasting behavior between varieties, we analyzed the transcriptomic responses to GA3 applied on two sweet cherry varieties with different maturity time phenotypes. At harvest, GA3 produced fruits with less color in both varieties. Similar to our previous report, GA3 delayed fruit color initiation and IAD only in the mid-season variety and reduced IAD at harvest only in the early-season variety. RNA-seq analysis of control- and GA3-treated fruits revealed that ripening-related categories were overrepresented in the early-season variety, including 'photosynthesis' and 'auxin response'. GA3 also changed the expression of carotenoid and abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthetic genes in this variety. In contrast, overrepresented categories in the mid-season variety were mainly related to metabolic processes. In this variety, some PP2Cs putative genes were positively regulated by GA3, which are negative regulators of ABA responses, and MYB44-like genes (putative repressors of PP2Cs expression) were downregulated. These results show that GA3 differentially modulates the transcriptome at the onset of ripening in a variety-dependent manner and suggest that GA3 impairs ripening through the modification of ripening associated gene expression only in the early-season variety; whereas in the mid-season variety, control of the ripening timing may occur through the PP2C gene expression regulation. This work contributes to the understanding of the role of GA in non-climacteric fruit ripening.

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Functional Molecules in Locally-Adapted Crops: The Case Study of Tomatoes, Onions, and Sweet Cherry Fruits From Tuscany in Italy.

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