Unrevealing the Proteome of the Prunus persica Mesocarp During Softening

Fruit ripening involves a series of physiological process as changes in skin and flesh color, sugar and acids content and mesocarp softening.  In general terms there are two main classifications concerning mesocarp softening in Prunus persicavarieties: melting and non-melting fruit. In order to get a better understanding of the molecular processes involved in peach fruit ripening, we evaluated protein accumulation in the mesocarp of O’Henry, a melting peach variety, in two development stages using 1-D SDS-PAGE electrophoresis followed by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC/MS-MS). Using the peach genome information, data from the spectra could be matched to 4105 proteins. From this total, 2615 proteins were present in fruits of both developmental stage, the others were detected in one or another developmental stage. Interestingly, around 7% (316 proteins) showed quantitative differences between firm and soft fruit. Our data confirm previous results showing that proteins with differential relative abundance are mostly involved in nitrogen metabolic processes, cellular localization, and carbohydrate metabolism representing the main physiological processes associated to ripening. Moreover the approach of using a previous fractionation of total protein through SDS-PAGE electrophoresis followed by peptide sequencing through mass spectrometry allowed the identification of the more abundant proteins contributing to a deeper understanding of the cellular events in peach ripening process.

Funded by: FONDAP CRG 15070009; Núcleo Milenio P10-062-F and Basal PFB-16.