Salicylic acid treatment alleviates diminished ester production in cold-stored ‘Nanguo’ pear by promoting the transcription of PuAAT

• An overall increase in esters is seen in SA-treated refrigerated ‘Nanguo’ pears. • SA increases the activities and gene expression of the AAT. • PuMYB6-like, PuMYB308-like and PuNAC68-like contributed greatly to aroma quality. • SA mediates ester biosynthesis by regulating the transcription of PuAAT . Ester loss due to chilling injury adversely affects the quality of ‘Nanguo’ pears. Salicylic acid (SA) is a well-known regulator of many physiological processes. Nevertheless, the regulatory mechanism underlying SA-mediated biosynthesis of esters remains largely unknown. Herein, we reported that SA treatment increased the kinds of esters and content of main and total esters in cold-stored ‘Nanguo’ pears. Yeast-hybridization, subcellular localization assay, transient transfection and β-glucuronidase analysis showed that the nuclear-localized PuMYB308-like and PuMYB6-like directly bound and activated PuAAT , moreover, overexpression of PuMYB308-like and PuMYB6-like promoted the expression of PuAAT as well as the main volatile content, and these functions were further enhanced by SA treatment. Furthermore, PuNAC68-like was found to be a negative regulator that inhibited the transcription of PuAAT . However, this effect was suppressed by SA treatment. Collectively, this study uncovered the transcriptional mechanism underlying SA promoted the transcription of PuAAT thus mediating ester formation.