Ethylene perception influences the chilling injury and SlCBF1 gene expression during cold storage of tomato fruit

Endogenous and exogenous ethylene were reported to positively regulate the cold tolerance, and mitigate the chilling injury (CI) damage of stored tomato fruit. However, the involvement of ethylene perception in cold resistance is still unclear and needs further investigation in postharvest fruit. Here, we used Never ripen (Nr) and wild-type (WT) tomato fruit as inhibited- and normal-ethylene perception models to investigate how inhibiting ethylene perception affected fruit quality and cold responses of stored tomato fruit. Results showed that inhibiting ethylene perception deteriorated fruit quality and aggravated cell membrane damage of tomato fruit during cold storage. In comparison with WT fruit, Nr fruit accumulated higher relative oxygen species but maintained lower activities of antioxidant enzymes. Besides, endogenous abscisic acid, methyl jasmonate, and gibberellin levels in Nr fruit were lower, whereas brassinolide contents were higher than those in WT fruit. Moreover, a lack of ethylene perception was preceded by the decrease in cold-induced upregulation of SlCBF1 gene expression, while no significant difference in the transcription of SlICE1 gene was observed between WT and Nr fruit. This study demonstrated that inhibiting ethylene perception increased the cold susceptibility of tomato fruit, suggesting that ethylene perception played a crucial role in maintaining fruit quality during cold storage. [Display omitted] •Blocking ethylene perception aggravates chilling injury symptoms of tomato fruit.•Loss of ethylene perception alters ROS levels and antioxidant enzymes activities.•Ethylene perception impacts ABA, BR, GA3, and MeJA accumulation in response to cold.•Loss of ethylene perception inhibits cold-induced upregulation of SlCBF1 expression.