PsERF1B-PsMYB10.1-PsbHLH3 module enhances anthocyanin biosynthesis in the flesh-reddening of amber-fleshed plum (cv. Friar) fruit in response to cold storage

Abstract

Flesh-reddening usually occurs in the amber-fleshed plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) fruit during cold storage but not during ambient storage direct after harvest. It is not clear how postharvest cold signal is mediated to regulate the anthocyanin biosynthesis in the forming of flesh-reddening yet. In this study, anthocyanins dramatically accumulated and ethylene produced in the ‘Friar’ plums during cold storage, in comparison with plums directly stored at ambient temperature. Expression of genes associated with anthocyanin biosynthesis, as well as transcription factors of PsMYB10.1, PsbHLH3, and PsERF1B were strongly stimulated to upregulated in the plums in the period of cold storage. Suppression of ethylene act with 1-methylcyclopropene greatly suppressed flesh-reddening and downregulated the expression of these genes. Transient overexpression and virus-induced gene silencing assays in plum flesh indicated that PsMYB10.1 encodes a positive regulator of anthocyanin accumulation. The transient overexpression of PsERF1B, coupled with PsMYB10.1 and PsbHLH3, could further prompt the anthocyanin biosynthesis in a tobacco leaf system. Results from yeast two-hybrid and luciferase complementation assays verified that PsERF1B directly interacted with PsMYB10.1. PsERF1B and PsMYB10.1 enhanced the activity of the promoter of PsUFGT individually, and the enhancement was prompted by the co-action of PsERF1B and PsMYB10.1. Overall, the stimulation of the PsERF1B-PsMYB10.1-PsbHLH3 module mediated cold signal in the transcriptomic supervision of the anthocyanin biosynthesis in the ‘Friar’ plums. The results thereby revealed the underlying mechanism of the postharvest alteration of the flesh phenotype of ‘Friar’ plums subjected to low temperature.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to professor Huazhong Ren, Xingwang Liu, Guiqin Qu and Benzhong Zhu (China Agricultural University) for providing experimental instruction and vectors. Thanks to Dr Andrew Allan (The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited) and Dr Jun Wu (Nanjing Agricultural University) for kindly providing pSAK277 vector. Thanks to Dr Zhizhen Fang (Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences) for providing experimental instruction. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31872907 and No. 32272371), S & T Program of Hebei (No. C2021201011), and the 2115 Talent Development Program of China Agricultural University.

Author contributions

R.X.: data curation, formal analysis, investigation, software, writing – original draft preparation. Y.W.: investigation. L.W.: writing – review and editing. Z.Z.: providing critical comments on manuscript editing. Funding acquisition. J.C.: conceptualization, writing – review and editing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition. D.F.: methodology, supervision, investigation, data curation. W.J.: providing comments and helping to write the final manuscript.

Data availability

All relevant data are included in the article and its supplementary file.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no declarations of interest.

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