Key message

This work provides the first system-wide datasets concerning metabolic changes in calcium-treated fruits, which reveal that exogenously applied calcium may specifically reprogram sweet cherry development and ripening physiognomy.

Abstract

Calcium modulates a wide range of plant developmental processes; however, the regulation of fruit ripening by calcium remains largely uncharacterized. In this study, transcriptome, proteome and metabolome profiling was used to document the responses of sweet cherry fruit to external calcium application (0.5% CaCl₂) at 15, 27 and 37 days after full blossom. Endogenous calcium loading in fruit across development following external calcium feeding was accompanied by a reduction in respiration rate. Calcium treatment strongly impaired water-induced fruit cracking tested by two different assays, and this effect depended on the fruit size, water temperature and light/dark conditions. Substantial changes in the levels of numerous polar/non-polar primary and secondary metabolites, including malic acid, glucose, cysteine, epicatechin and neochlorogenic acid were noticed in fruits exposed to calcium. At the onset of ripening, we identified various calcium-affected genes, including those involved in ubiquitin and cysteine signaling, that had not been associated previously with calcium function in fruit biology. Calcium specifically increased the abundance of a significant number of proteins that classified as oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, and ligases. The overview of temporal changes in gene expression and corresponding protein abundance provided by interlinked analysis revealed that oxidative phosphorylation, hypersensitive response, DNA repair, stomata closure, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and proton-pump activity were mainly affected by calcium. This report provides the fullest characterization of expression patterns in calcium-responsive genes, proteins and metabolites currently available in fruit ripening and will serve as a blueprint for future biological endeavors.

中文翻译：

---

高通量绘图揭示了樱桃果实发育中钙作用的新见解。

关键信息

这项工作提供了第一个关于钙处理水果代谢变化的全系统数据集，这表明外源性钙可能会特异性地重新编程甜樱桃的发育和成熟面相。

抽象的

钙调节多种植物发育过程；然而，钙对果实成熟的调节在很大程度上仍未得到表征。在这项研究中，转录组、蛋白质组和代谢组分析用于记录甜樱桃果实对外部钙应用（0.5% CaCl ₂) 在盛开后的 15、27 和 37 天。外部钙喂养后水果在整个发育过程中的内源性钙负荷伴随着呼吸速率的降低。通过两种不同的试验测试，钙处理严重损害了水诱导的果实开裂，这种影响取决于果实大小、水温和光照/黑暗条件。在暴露于钙的水果中，注意到许多极性/非极性初级和次级代谢物水平的显着变化，包括苹果酸、葡萄糖、半胱氨酸、表儿茶素和新绿原酸。在成熟开始时，我们鉴定了各种受钙影响的基因，包括那些参与泛素和半胱氨酸信号传导的基因，这些基因以前与水果生物学中的钙功能无关。钙特别增加了大量蛋白质的丰度，这些蛋白质被归类为氧化还原酶、转移酶、水解酶、裂合酶和连接酶。由关联分析提供的基因表达和相应蛋白质丰度的时间变化概述表明，氧化磷酸化、过敏反应、DNA 修复、气孔关闭、次生代谢物的生物合成和质子泵活性主要受钙的影响。该报告提供了目前在果实成熟中可用的钙响应基因、蛋白质和代谢物的表达模式的最完整特征，并将作为未来生物学努力的蓝图。由关联分析提供的基因表达和相应蛋白质丰度的时间变化概述表明，氧化磷酸化、过敏反应、DNA 修复、气孔关闭、次生代谢物的生物合成和质子泵活性主要受钙的影响。该报告提供了目前在果实成熟中可用的钙响应基因、蛋白质和代谢物的表达模式的最完整特征，并将作为未来生物学努力的蓝图。由关联分析提供的基因表达和相应蛋白质丰度的时间变化概述表明，氧化磷酸化、过敏反应、DNA 修复、气孔关闭、次生代谢物的生物合成和质子泵活性主要受钙的影响。该报告提供了目前在果实成熟中可用的钙响应基因、蛋白质和代谢物的表达模式的最完整特征，并将作为未来生物学努力的蓝图。