A metabolome and transcriptome survey to tap the dynamics of fruit prolonged shelf-life and improved quality within Greek tomato germplasm

Ifigeneia Mellidou; Athanasios Koukounaras; Sarah Frusciante; José L Rambla; Efstathia Patelou; Symela Ntoanidou; Clara Pons; Stefanos Kostas; Konstantinos Nikoloudis; Antonio Granell; Gianfranco Diretto; Angelos K Kanellis

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1267340

A metabolome and transcriptome survey to tap the dynamics of fruit prolonged shelf-life and improved quality within Greek tomato germplasm

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Sep 25:14:1267340. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1267340. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ifigeneia Mellidou^{1

2}, Athanasios Koukounaras^{2

3}, Sarah Frusciante⁴, José L Rambla^{5

6}, Efstathia Patelou², Symela Ntoanidou², Clara Pons^{5

7}, Stefanos Kostas^{2

3}, Konstantinos Nikoloudis⁸, Antonio Granell⁵, Gianfranco Diretto⁴, Angelos K Kanellis²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization - DEMETER, Thessaloniki, Greece.
² Group of Biotechnology of Pharmaceutical Plants, Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
³ Department of Horticulture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
⁴ Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and Sustainable Development (ENEA), Biotechnology Laboratory, Casaccia Research Center, Rome, Italy.
⁵ Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain.
⁶ Department of Biology, Biochemistry and Natural Sciences, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón de la Plana, Spain.
⁷ Instituto de Conservación y Mejora de la Agrodiversidad Valenciana (COMAV), Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain.
⁸ Agroindustrial Cooperative of Tympaki, Tympaki, Greece.

Abstract

Introduction: Tomato is a high economic value crop worldwide with recognized nutritional properties and diverse postharvest potential. Nowadays, there is an emerging awareness about the exploitation and utilization of underutilized traditional germplasm in modern breeding programs. In this context, the existing diversity among Greek accessions in terms of their postharvest life and nutritional value remains largely unexplored.

Methods: Herein, a detailed evaluation of 130 tomato Greek accessions for postharvest and nutritional characteristics was performed, using metabolomics and transcriptomics, leading to the selection of accessions with these interesting traits.

Results: The results showed remarkable differences among tomato Greek accessions for overall ripening parameters (color, firmness) and weight loss. On the basis of their postharvest performance, a balance between short shelf life (SSL) and long shelf life (LSL) accessions was revealed. Metabolome analysis performed on 14 selected accessions with contrasting shelf-life potential identified a total of 206 phytonutrients and volatile compounds. In turn, transcriptome analysis in fruits from the best SSL and the best LSL accessions revealed remarkable differences in the expression profiles of transcripts involved in key metabolic pathways related to fruit quality and postharvest potential.

Discussion: The pathways towards cell wall synthesis, polyamine synthesis, ABA catabolism, and steroidal alkaloids synthesis were mostly induced in the LSL accession, whereas those related to ethylene biosynthesis, cell wall degradation, isoprenoids, phenylpropanoids, ascorbic acid and aroma (TomloxC) were stimulated in the SSL accession. Overall, these data would provide valuable insights into the molecular mechanism towards enhancing shelf-life and improving flavor and aroma of modern tomato cultivars.

Keywords: landraces; metabolomics; nutritional quality; ripening; shelf-life; storage; transcriptomics.

Grants and funding

The authors declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. AKK acknowledges the support by European Commission H2020 research and innovation program through TRADITOM project agreement No. 634561 and the co‐financed by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH – CREATE – INNOVATE (project code: T2EDK-01332-n-Tomatomics). For networking activities, support is acknowledged by COST Action CA18210-RoxyCost, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). GD acknowledges support by the PRIMA program through PROMEDLIFE project agreement No. 2132. JR acknowledges funding by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation grant (IJC2020-045612-I). AG acknowledges the support of Horizon EU program through contract 101000716.