Salicylic acid treatment alleviates diminished ester production in cold-stored ‘Nanguo’ pear by promoting the transcription of PuAAT

•An overall increase in esters is seen in SA-treated refrigerated ‘Nanguo’ pears.•SA increases the activities and gene expression of the AAT.•PuMYB6-like, PuMYB308-like and PuNAC68-like contributed greatly to aroma quality.•SA mediates ester biosynthesis by regulating the transcription of PuAAT. Ester loss due to chilling injury adversely affects the quality of ‘Nanguo’ pears. Salicylic acid (SA) is a well-known regulator of many physiological processes. Nevertheless, the regulatory mechanism underlying SA-mediated biosynthesis of esters remains largely unknown. Herein, we reported that SA treatment increased the kinds of esters and content of main and total esters in cold-stored ‘Nanguo’ pears. Yeast-hybridization, subcellular localization assay, transient transfection and β-glucuronidase analysis showed that the nuclear-localized PuMYB308-like and PuMYB6-like directly bound and activated PuAAT, moreover, overexpression of PuMYB308-like and PuMYB6-like promoted the expression of PuAAT as well as the main volatile content, and these functions were further enhanced by SA treatment. Furthermore, PuNAC68-like was found to be a negative regulator that inhibited the transcription of PuAAT. However, this effect was suppressed by SA treatment. Collectively, this study uncovered the transcriptional mechanism underlying SA promoted the transcription of PuAAT thus mediating ester formation.