Abstract
Prolonged storage of kiwifruit at low temperatures can result in disorders that can result in significant postharvest losses. However, the changes in gene expression associated with different disorders, such as chilling injury and freezing damage, are not well understood for kiwifruit. RNA-Seq transcriptome profiling is a sequencing technique that can be used to identify changes in gene expression in biological samples and therefore can help to understand the underlying molecular/biochemical processes that occur in kiwifruit during storage at low temperatures. In this paper key differences in gene expression found in kiwifruit held at 1°C are compared to kiwifruit given a
-2.5°C treatment, that did not cause macro scale freezing, are identified. In addition, gene expression in the stem and stylar ends of fruit are compared. Understanding how kiwifruit respond during cold storage could help to develop ways to mitigate the amount of fruit lost due to cold temperature storage disorders.