Low temperature conditioning alleviates loss of aroma-related esters of ‘Nanguo’ pears by regulation of ethylene signal transduction

•LTC prevented downregulation of aroma-related esters in 'Nanguo' pear.•LTC increased the expression levels of key ethylene signaling genes.•LTC can maintain the aroma of 'Nanguo' pear by ethylene signal transduction. The optimum harvest time for ‘Nanguo’ pears lasts for only 20 days. Refrigeration is a common technique used to extend the fruit supply. However, with low-temperature storage, the proper aroma of the pear is lost when it matures during shelf-life at room temperature. In this study, we investigated the ability of low-temperature conditioning (LTC) to regulate aroma esters of ‘Nanguo’ pears, and identified the key genes in the ethylene signal transduction pathway based on RNA-seq analysis. LTC caused higher ethylene production and effectively alleviated the loss of aroma-related esters in ‘Nanguo’ pears during refrigeration and during the subsequent shelf-life at room temperature. Furthermore, the expression levels of PuERS1, PuEIN4, PuEIN2, and PuERF were increased under LTC treatment. Thus, we speculate that the alleviation effect of LTC on fruit aroma esters is closely related to ethylene signal transduction, including up-regulated expression of PuERS1, PuEIN4, PuEIN2, and PuERF.