Fig. 7.

Levels of phytohormones and the expression of associated genes in the flavedo of detached lemon fruit. (A) Heatmap showing differentially expressed genes encoding proteins associated with phytohormone biosynthesis and signalling in fruit exposed to ethylene or low temperatures. The data are expressed as the log₂ value of fold-change for ethylene (ET) versus control, 5 °C versus 25 °C, and 15 °C versus 25 °C. (B) RT-qPCR analysis of the ABA biosynthetic gene 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase 5 (ClNCED5), indicated by the arrow in (A). Expression is relative to the value at harvest and the housekeeping gene was AcActin. (C) Levels of ABA and JA-Ile in lemon fruit treated with ethylene or after 28 d storage at the indicated temperatures. Data are means (±SE) of three replicate fruits. Different letters indicate significant differences between means as determined using ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test (P<0.05).