Elevated gene expression prior to cold exposure correlates with increased freezing tolerance in strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) cultivars

There is limited research about variations between cultivars for freezing tolerance in fruit crops and indeed much less is known about the distinctive in ground structure of the crown that herbaceous perennials depend on for regeneration in spring. Because strawberry is a representative species for the Rosaceae crops knowledge gained is expected to be transferrable to benefit improvement of many of these related crops. To gain insight into the molecular basis that may contribute to overwintering hardiness, a comparative proteomic analysis was carried out for four Fragaria x ananassa (octoploid strawberry) cultivars that differ in freezing tolerance. Protein expression was investigated in the overwintering relevant crown structure of strawberry from plants exposed to 0, 2, and 42 day cold treatments and were examined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D). Some proteins, such as molecular chaperones, antioxidants / detoxifying enzymes, metabolic enzymes, and pathogenesis related proteins were revealed to be at significantly higher levels before cold exposure in the most freezing tolerant cultivars, (‘Jonsok’ and ‘Senga Sengana’) compared to the least tolerant cultivars (‘Frida’ and ‘Elsanta’). Freezing tolerance was evaluated for the cultivars before and after cold exposure, with findings that support that the most freezing tolerant cultivars are poised for rapid adaptation to cold exposure, suggesting potential differences in capacity or rate for cold acclimation. Thus, the molecular basis for enhanced overwintering survival may be related to the elevated basal level of a number of proteins, many of which are known to confer stress tolerances. These findings are presented and overlaid with a LFQP shotgun analysis and microarray analysis. This study presents the largest quantitative proteomic data-set for strawberry crown tissue during cold exposure to date. Through the comparison of these cultivars that differ in freezing tolerance, proteins that may contribute to cold tolerance but lack significant cold induction were revealed.