Postharvest Treatment of Hydrogen Sulfide Delays the Softening of Chilean Strawberry Fruit by Downregulating the Expression of Key Genes Involved in Pectin Catabolism

• Main Authors: Sebastian A. Molinett, Juan F. Alfaro, Felipe A. Sáez, Sebastian Elgueta, María A. Moya-León, Carlos R. Figueroa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: <i>Fragaria chiloensis</i>; strawberry decay; shelf-life; cell wall disassembly; pectinases; gasotransmitter
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/18/10008

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) plays several physiological roles in plants. Despite the evidence, the role of H₂S on cell wall disassembly and its implications on fleshy fruit firmness remains unknown. In this work, the effect of H₂S treatment on the shelf-life, cell wall polymers and cell wall modifying-related gene expression of Chilean strawberry (<i>Fragaria chiloensis</i>) fruit was tested during postharvest storage. The treatment with H₂S prolonged the shelf-life of fruit by an effect of optimal dose. Fruit treated with 0.2 mM H₂S maintained significantly higher fruit firmness than non-treated fruit, reducing its decay and tripling its shelf-life. Additionally, H₂S treatment delays pectin degradation throughout the storage period and significantly downregulated the expression of genes encoding for pectinases, such as polygalacturonase, pectate lyase, and expansin. This evidence suggests that H₂S as a gasotransmitter prolongs the post-harvest shelf-life of the fruit and prevents its fast softening rate by a downregulation of the expression of key pectinase genes, which leads to a decreased pectin degradation.