Integrative analyses reveal sugar and organic acid pathways in blueberry development, suggesting potential breeding implications.
Blueberry ( Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is an important berry crop recognized for its distinct flavor, color, and high nutritional value. To enhance our understanding of the potential regulatory pathways that determine fruit quality during berry development under semi-closed greenhouse conditions, we analyzed the physiological properties of developing fruits; moreover, we conducted an integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis. The results revealed that total anthocyanin, total soluble sugar, and individual sugars (mainly fructose and glucose) significantly increased during fruit development and maturation, whereas organic acid (mainly quinic acid and citric acid) levels markedly decreased. Sucrose synthetase (SS), sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), and phosphofructokinase (PFK) play vital roles in sugar accumulation, while phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME), and NAD-malate dehydrogenase (NAD-MDH) are crucial for organic acid metabolism. A substantial number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were identified. The study findings provide a foundation for understanding the mechanisms of sugar accumulation, organic acid degradation, and anthocyanin synthesis and metabolism, as well as offer valuable insights into the development of effective marker-assisted breeding approaches for blueberries.
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An et al. (2026) studied this question.
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