Reconfiguration of the metabolome is a key component involved in the acclimation to
cold in plants; however, few studies have been devoted to the analysis of the overall
metabolite changes after cold storage of fruits prior to consumption. Here, metabolite
profiling of six peach varieties with differential susceptibility to develop mealiness, a
chilling-injury (CI) symptom, was performed. According to metabolic content at harvest;
after cold treatment; and after ripening, either following cold treatment or not; peach fruits
clustered in distinct groups, depending on harvest-time, cold treatment, and ripening
state. Both common and distinct metabolic responses among the six varieties were
found; common changes including dramatic galactinol and raffinose rise; GABA, Asp,
and Phe increase; and 2-oxo-glutarate and succinate decrease. Raffinose content after
long cold treatment quantitatively correlated to the degree of mealiness resistance of
the different peach varieties; and thus, raffinose emerges as a candidate biomarker of
this CI disorder. Xylose increase after cold treatment was found only in the susceptible
genotypes, indicating a particular cell wall reconfiguration of these varieties while being
cold-stored. Overall, results indicate that peach fruit differential metabolic rearrangements
due to cold treatment, rather than differential metabolic priming before cold, are better
related with CI resistance. The plasticity of peach fruit metabolism renders it possible to
induce a diverse metabolite array after cold, which is successful, in some genotypes, to
avoid CI.
Para citar este articulo: Bustamante CA, Monti LL, Gabilondo J, Scossa F, Valentini G, Budde CO, Lara MV, Fernie AR and Drincovich MF (2016) Differential Metabolic Rearrangements after Cold Storage Are Correlated with Chilling Injury Resistance of Peach Fruits. Front. Plant Sci. 7:1478. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2016.01478