Azacytidine arrests ripening in cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) by repressing key genes and altering hormone contents

BACKGROUND: Strawberry ripening involves a number of irreversible biochemical reactions that cause sensory changes through accumulation of sugars, acids and other compounds responsible for fruit color and flavor. The process, which is strongly dependent on methylation marks in other fruits such as tomatoes and oranges, is highly controlled and coordinated in strawberry. RESULTS: Repeated injections of the hypomethylating compound 5-azacytidine (AZA) into green and unripe Fragaria × ananassa receptacles fully arrested the ripening of the fruit. The process, however, was reversible since treated fruit parts reached full maturity within a few days after AZA treatment was stopped. Transcriptomic analyses showed that key genes responsible for the biosynthesis of anthocyanins, phenylpropanoids, and hormones such as abscisic acid (ABA) were affected by the AZA treatment. In fact, AZA downregulated genes associated with ABA biosynthetic genes but upregulated genes associated with its degradation. AZA treatment additionally downregulated a number of essential transcription factors associated with the regulation and control of ripening. Metabolic analyses revealed a marked imbalance in hormone levels, with treated parts accumulating auxins, gibberellins and ABA degradation products, as well as metabolites associated with unripe fruits. CONCLUSIONS: AZA completely halted strawberry ripening by altering the hormone balance, and the expression of genes involves in hormone biosynthesis and degradation processes. These results contradict those previously obtained in other climacteric and fleshly fruits, where AZA led to premature ripening. In any case, our results suggests that the strawberry ripening process is governed by methylation marks. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-022-03670-1.