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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Generating Homo- and Heterografts Between Watermelon and Bottle Gourd for the Study of Cold-responsive MicroRNAs
Published on: November 20, 2018
DNA methylation, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses provide new mechanistic insights into cold shock-induced
Yiting Ren1,2, Jianlou Mu2, Yunxiang Wang1
1Institute of Agri-food Processing and Nutrition, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Fruits and Vegetable Storage and Processing, Key Laboratory of Vegetable Postharvest Processing of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas, State Key Laboratory of Vegetable Biobreeding, Beijing Vegetable Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Cucumber is cold-sensitive; improper storage induces chilling injury. To investigate how 3 h 0 °C cold shock (CS) alleviates chilling injury in 'Baijinyu' cucumbers at 4 °C, we performed integrated DNA methylation, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses. CS alleviated chilling injury, delayed quality decline (soluble solids, firmness, color), and altered accumulation of lipids, keto acids/esters, amino acids, and organic acids. CS increased methylation of peroxidase, caffeic acid 3‑O‑methyltransferase, and cinnamyl‑alcohol dehydrogenase, upregulating peroxidase but downregulating the latter two, accompanied by accumulation of (E)-ferulic acid, L‑tyrosine, and trans‑5‑O‑(p‑coumaroyl)shikimate. CS induced hypomethylation of CG‑type distal intergenic region of NCED and CHH‑type promoter region of abscisic acid receptor PYL, leading to downregulation of NCED and upregulation of PYL, thereby suppressing ABA biosynthesis and modulating ABA signaling. Moreover, CS maintained membrane lipid stability. Overall, CS enhances chilling tolerance by DNA methylation-mediated regulation of transcriptional and metabolic networks, supporting its potential as a green postharvest treatment.
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