Metabolomics and transcriptomics unravel the mechanism of browning resistance in Agaricus bisporus

PLoS One. 2022 Mar 16;17(3):e0255765. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255765. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Agaricus bisporus is widely consumed on the world market. The easy browning of mushroom surface is one of the most intuitive factors affecting consumer purchase. A certain cognition on browning mechanism has been made after years of research. At present, people slow down the browning of mushrooms mainly by improving preservation methods. In addition, breeding is also a reliable way. In the production practice, we have identified some browning-resistant varieties, and we selected a browning-resistant variety to compare with an ordinary variety to reveal the resistance mechanism. Using transcriptomics and metabolomics, the differences in gene expression and metabolite levels were revealed, respectively. The results showed that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) like AbPPO4, AbPPO3 and AbPPO2 were differently expressed and these DEGs were involved in many pathways related to browning. The expression of AbPPO expression play an important role in the browning of A. bisporus and multiple PPO family members are involved in the regulation of browning. However, the resistance to browning cannot be judged only by the expression level of AbPPOs. For metabolomics, most of the different metabolites were organic acids. These organic acids had a higher level in anti-browning (BT) than easy-browning varieties (BS), although the profile was very heterogeneous. On the contrary, the content of trehalose in BS was significantly higher than that in BT. Higher organic acids decreased pH and further inhibited PPO activity. In addition, the BS had a higher content of trehalose, which might play roles in maintaining PPO activity. The difference of browning resistance between BS and BT is mainly due to the differential regulation mechanism of PPO.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agaricus* / chemistry
  • Agaricus* / genetics
  • Humans
  • Metabolomics
  • Plant Breeding
  • Transcriptome*
  • Trehalose

Substances

  • Trehalose

Supplementary concepts

  • Agaricus bisporus

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the following grants. Among them, the experimental design was supported by the earmarked fund of Fundamental Research Project of Fujian Provincial Research Institute for Public Welfare,China(Grant No.2019R1035-1 and 2019R1035-2). Data collection was supported by China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA(CARS-20). Reagents and laboratory supplies was supported by the Seed industry innovation and industrialization project of Fujian province, China (zycxny2021011) and the Natural Science Foundation of the Fujian Province, China(Grant No.2020J011379). Data analysis was supported by 5511 Collaborative innovation project of Fujian Province,China(XTCXGC2021007).