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Hormonal Profiling Reveals a Hormonal Cross-Talk During Fruit Decay in Sweet Cherries

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Abstract

Although fruit decay in sweet cherries has been studied in some detail, information is still scarce about the possible role of phytohormones during postharvest. Here, we examined whether or not changes in endogenous contents of phytohormones occur during fruit decay of sweet cherries stored at room temperature. We evaluated (i) the endogenous variations in the contents of phytohormones, including abscisic acid, gibberellins, cytokinins, auxin, jasmonic acid, salicylic acid and melatonin, by UHPLC–ESI–MS/MS during fruit decay at room temperature, and (ii) to what extent these changes in phytohormone contents were associated with alterations in water contents, soluble sugars and acidity. Endogenous contents of abscisic acid, cytokinins and gibberellins decreased in parallel with fruit decay, thus suggesting a protective role against over-ripening for these compounds. Among cytokinins and gibberellins, free cytokinin bases (zeatin and 2-isopentenyl adenine, rather than their ribosides), and gibberellin 3, changed in parallel with fruit decay. It is concluded that abscisic acid, free cytokinin bases and gibberellin 3 may prevent fruit decay during storage of sweet cherries at room temperature.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the prize ICREA Academia awarded to SM-B by the Generalitat de Catalunya. We are very grateful to Paula Muñoz (University of Barcelona) and the staff of the Serveis Científico-Tècnics of the University of Barcelona for technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Avinguda Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Verónica Tijero, Natalia Teribia & Sergi Munné-Bosch

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  1. Verónica Tijero
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  2. Natalia Teribia
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  3. Sergi Munné-Bosch
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Correspondence to Sergi Munné-Bosch.

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Tijero, V., Teribia, N. & Munné-Bosch, S. Hormonal Profiling Reveals a Hormonal Cross-Talk During Fruit Decay in Sweet Cherries. J Plant Growth Regul 38, 431–437 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-018-9852-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-018-9852-5

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