Accumulation of carotenoids and expression of carotenogenic genes in peach fruit

To understand better the regulatory mechanism of the carotenoid accumulation, the expression profile of relevant carotenoid genes and metabolites were compared between two peach cultivars with different colors during fruit development. Meanwhile, the change pattern of carotenoid content and expression of carotenoid metabolic genes in peaches after harvest in response to blue light were also investigated. As compared to the yellow fleshed-cultivar 'Jinli', lower carotenoid levels were observed in skin and pulp in white peach cultivar 'Hujing', which might be explained by differentially expression of PpCCD4 gene. With respect to 'Jinli', the carotenoid accumulation during fruit development in fruit skin was partially linked with the transcriptional regulation of PpFPPS, PpGGPS, PpLCYB and PpCHYB. However, in the pulp, the accumulation might be also associated with the increased transcriptions of PpPDS, along with the above four genes. Blue light treatment induced carotenoid accumulation in 'Jinli' peaches during storage. In addition, the treated-fruit displayed higher expression of all the eight genes analysed with a lesser extent on PpCCD4, which suggested that the much more increased carotenoid synthesis rate could result in the higher carotenoid content in blue light-treated fruit. The results presented herein contribute to further elucidating the regulatory mechanism of carotenoid accumulation in peach fruit.