RNAseq analysis of storage of halved strawberry fruits

Low temperature storage is routinely used to extend strawberry shelf-life for transport and storage in the supply chain, however cold storage can also affect fruit aroma. To better understand the effects of cold storage, transcriptomic analyses were applied to halved Fragaria x ananassa cv. Elsanta fruit stored at 4 or 8 C for up to 5 days over two growing seasons. Over 3000 genes changed in expression in transcriptome analysis. Overall, phenylpropanoid metabolism which may also affect VOCs, and starch metabolism were the most significantly affected pathways. Genes involved in autophagy were also differentially expressed. Expression of genes from 43 different transcription factor (TF) families changed in expression: mostly they were down-regulated but NAC and WRKY family genes were mainly up-regulated. Given the high ester representation amongst VOCs, the down-regulation of an alcohol acyl transferase (AAT) during storage is significant. A total of 113 differentially expressed genes were co-regulated with the AAT gene, including seven TFs. These may be potential AAT regulators.