Transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling reveals the mechanisms of color and taste development in cherry tomato cultivars

Fruit color and taste are important quality characters of cherry tomatoes. The present study analyzed the genes and metabolites in the three cherry tomatoes with different fruit colors (red, green, and yellow) at the maturity stage to characterize the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying fruit color and taste. Profiling identified 627 compounds grouped into 37 classes and 25,106 uniquely expressed genes in cherry tomato fruit samples. Significant variations were detected in all three cherry tomatoes. In addition, association analysis depicted that the differentially expressed genes and differentially accumulated metabolites were mainly associated with phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, and flavone and flavonol biosynthesis pathways, and carotenoid pathway which are likely to be the key metabolites and genes underlying the differences for colors among the cherry tomato fruits. Overall, these findings revealed the basis of mechanisms underlying fruit color and taste development and provided valuable information for the genetic improvement of cherry tomatoes.