Tissue-specific transcriptional analysis outlines calcium-induced core metabolic changes in sweet cherry fruit.

ABSTRACT

The role of calcium in fruit ripening has been established, however knowledge regarding the molecular analysis at fruit tissue-level is still lacking. To address this, we examined the impact of foliar-applied calcium (0.5% CaCl2) in the ripening metabolism in skin and flesh tissues of the sweet cherry 'Tragana Edessis' fruit at the harvest stage. Exogenously applied calcium increased endogenous calcium level in flesh tissue and reduced fruit respiration rate and cracking traits. Fruit metabolomic along with transcriptomic analysis unraveled common and tissue-specific metabolic pathways associated with calcium feeding. Treatment with calcium diminished several alcohols (arabitol, sorbitol), sugars (fructose, maltose), acids (glyceric acid, threonic acid) and increased ribose and proline in both fruit tissues. Moreover, numerous primary metabolites, such as proline and galacturonic acid, were differentially accumulated in calcium-exposed tissues. Calcium-affected genes that involved in ubiquitin/ubl conjugation and cell wall biogenesis/degradation were differentially expressed between skin and flesh samples. Notably, skin and flesh tissues shared common calcium-responsive genes and exhibited substantial similarity in their expression patterns. In both tissues, calcium activated gene expression, most strongly those involved in plant-pathogen interaction, plant hormone signaling and MAPK signaling pathway, thus affecting related metabolic processes. By contrast, calcium depressed the expression of genes related to TCA cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, and starch/sucrose metabolism in both tissues. This work established both calcium-driven common and specialized metabolic suites in skin and flesh cherry tissues, demonstrating the utility of this approach to characterize fundamental aspects of calcium in fruit physiology.