Melatonin accelerates strawberry fruit ripening by triggering GAMYB gene expression and promoting ABA accumulation

• Published in: Scientia horticulturae 2021-04, Vol.281, p.109919, Article 109919
• Main Authors: Mansouri, Sirvan, Sarikhani, Hassan, Sayyari, Mohammad, Soleimani Aghdam, Morteza
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abscisic acid biosynthesis; Anthocyanin accumulation; Endogenous melatonin accumulation; Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase; Strawberry
• ISSN: 0304-4238; 1879-1018
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2021.109919

•Exogenous application of 1000 μM melatonin accelerated strawberry fruit ripening.•By triggering the expression of TDC, T5H, SNAT and ASMT, endogenous melatonin accumulated.•Exogenous melatonin elevates endogenous ABA accumulation.•Exogenous melatonin triggers the signaling H2O2 accumulation.•Exogenous melatonin promotes the accumulation of phenols and anthocyanins. In this experiment, we tested the exogenous melatonin (0, 1, 10, 100, and 1000 μM) injection at the light green stage for the regulation of strawberry (Fragaria annanaca cv. Sabrina) fruit ripening. Our results showed that a higher endogenous content of melatonin resulting from higher expressions of TDC, SNAT, T5H, and ASMT in response to 1000 μM melatonin injection may be attributed to an accumulation of H2O2 resulting from a higher expression of NADPH oxidase. Also, a higher endogenous accumulation of ABA (due to a higher expression of NCEDs genes) and a higher accumulation of anthocyanin (due to higher expressions of PAL and CHS genes) may be attributed to a higher expression of the GAMYB gene and a lower expression of SnRK2.6 gene, resulting from the endogenous accumulation of melatonin, involved in the ripening of strawberry fruits. Therefore, our results indicate that the exogenous application of melatonin can accelerate the ripening of strawberry fruits by 2–3 days.