Postharvest fruit softening is a critical determinant of fruit shelf life, significantly influencing mechanical damage susceptibility, pathogen invasion, and consumer preference. Collectively, these factors lead to substantial losses in the fruit industry. The structural modifications of cell wall and cuticle during ripening primarily govern fruit softening. The objective of this review is to synthesize recent advances and provide a comprehensive analysis of the molecular mechanisms underlying this process. In this review, we provide a comprehensive analysis of cell wall composition and softening-associated cell wall remodeling proteins. We examine recent advances in manipulating single or multiple genes encoding cell wall-modifying proteins that influence fruit softening, and identify key transcription factors regulating the expression of these gene networks. This review synthesizes current understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing fruit ripening, providing a foundation for future research in postharvest biology.

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is becoming increasingly popular in China, but its postharvest quality deteriorates significantly during harvest storage and transport. Here, we investigated the efficiency of different modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) treatments on the quality and physiology of ‘Meizao’ sweet cherry during 60 days of cold storage (0 ± 0.5 °C). Fruits were sealed in four types of MAP low-density polyethylene (LDPE) liners (PE20, PE30, PE40, and PE50), with unsealed 20 μm LDPE packaging bags used as the control. Our findings demonstrated that PE30 packaging established an optimal gas composition (7.0~7.7% O₂ and 3.6~3.9% CO₂) that effectively preserved ‘Meizao’ sweet cherry quality. It maintained the fruit color, firmness, soluble solid content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), and vitamin C (Vc) content while simultaneously delaying deteriorative processes such as weight loss, pedicel browning, and fruit decay. These results indicate that PE30 was the most suitable treatment for preserving the quality of ‘Meizao’ sweet cherries during cold storage. Furthermore, physiological research showed that significant inhibition of respiration rate was achieved by PE30, accompanied by maintained activities of antioxidant enzymes (CAT, POD, and SOD), which consequently led to reduced accumulations of ethanol and malondialdehyde (MDA) during cold storage. To date, no systematic studies have investigated the physiological and biochemical responses of ‘Meizao’ to different thickness-dependent LDPE-MAP conditions. These observations highlight the power of the optimized PE30 packaging as an effective method for extending the fruit storage life, delaying postharvest senescence, and maintaining fruit quality of ‘Meizao’ sweet cherry.

This study aimed to identify fungal species causing fruit rot of chestnut (Castanea mollissima Blume) in Hebei Province, China and analyze the resistance differences among major cultivars. A total of 220 fungal isolates were obtained from healthy and diseased kernels, which were classified into six distinct genera: Diaporthe (48.6%), Talaromyces (22.3%), Alternaria (10.5%), Mucor (9.5%), Fusarium (5.5%), and Rhizopus (3.6%). Based on both morphological and molecular analyses, six representative isolates of the six genera were identified as Diaporthe eres Nitschke, Talaromyces rugulosus Samson, N. Yilmaz, Frisvad & Seifert, Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissl., Mucor circinelloides Tiegh., Fusarium proliferatum (Matsush.) Nirenberg, and Rhizopus stolonifer (Ehrenb.) Vuill. Among these, D. eres was first reported to cause fruit rot on C. mollissima in China. Moreover, disease resistance evaluation of major cultivars showed significant differences: YG, YSSF, and DBH exhibited strong resistance under both natural conditions (with 1.67% to 5.27% DI after 180 days storage) and artificial inoculation (with 32.96 ± 0.64 to 52.61 ± 0.55 DI); while YJ was highly susceptible (with 47.71% decay incidence and 70.50 ± 7.22 DI). Correlation analysis revealed that the disease index was negatively correlated with sucrose and sorbitol contents, but positively correlated with stachyose and fructose contents. This study advances the understanding of postharvest chestnut fruit rot and provides a theoretical basis for breeding resistant cultivars and developing control strategies to mitigate losses and ensure food safety.

Leaf senescence is a critically regulated developmental process that determines crop yield and quality. MYB and NAC transcription factors (TFs) are central regulators within this network, yet the crosstalk between these TF families and their connection to the gibberellin (GA) pathway remain poorly understood. This study revealed that overexpression of DIV1, a MYB-like TF, leads to significantly reduced chlorophyll content and precocious leaf senescence. Based on the public transcriptome profiling of DIV1-overexpression leaves, 37 senescence-associated differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including the highly upregulated NAC59 and NAC92, were identified. Molecular assays confirmed that DIV1 directly binds to the promoters of NAC59 and NAC92 and activates their transcription. Meanwhile, yeast two-hybrid and split-luciferase assays demonstrated that DIV1 physically interacts with the GA biosynthetic enzyme ent-kaurene oxidase (KO1) both in vitro and in vivo. The promoted senescence phenotype in DIV1-overexpression lines was rescued by treatment with paclobutrazol (PAC), a GA biosynthesis inhibitor. In summary, our findings reveal a dual mechanism whereby DIV1 integrates the GA pathway and NAC-mediated transcription to regulate leaf senescence. This work provides new insights into the coordination between MYB and NAC TFs during hormone-mediated senescence.

Peach bacterial shot hole is a major disease limiting the yield and quality in most peach-producing areas worldwide. To clarify its etiology and support the development of targeted management strategies, diseased samples were collected from Changli County peach orchards. The pathogen was isolated, purified and verified by Koch’s postulates. Based on morphological, biochemical and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses, the causal agent was identified as Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni (isolate TCK-5). Biological characterization revealed that TCK-5 grew optimally in KB and NB medium at 28 °C, pH 7.0–7.5 and 0.5–1.0% NaCl, efficiently utilized glycerol and organic nitrogen source (proteose peptone, beef extract and yeast extract), with light showing no significant effect on growth. The strain TCK-5 exhibited a lethal temperature of 51 °C, indicating that heat treatment above this threshold effectively disinfects pruning tools and contaminated plant debris. Among 18 bactericides tested in vitro, biological bactericide outperformed chemical ones, with 0.3% Tetramycin AS (EC₅₀ = 0.1051 mg/L) and 3% Zhongshengmycin SL (EC₅₀ = 2.9252 mg/L) exhibiting the strongest inhibitory activity. This study fills a regional knowledge gap in the epidemiological distribution of the pathogen in northern China and advances current understanding of X. arboricola pv. pruni occurrence, providing a scientific basis for subsequent epidemic monitoring and integrated control of peach bacterial shot hole.

This study aimed to identify fungal species causing fruit rot of chestnut (Castanea mollissima) in Hebei Province, China and analyze the resistance differences among major cultivars. A total of 220 fungal isolates were obtained from healthy and diseased kernels, which were classified into six distinct genera. Based on both morphological and molecular analyses, these isolates were identified as Diaporthe eres (48.6% isolation frequency), Talaromyces rugulosus (22.3%), Alternaria alternata (10.5%), Mucor circinelloides (9.5%), Fusarium proliferatum (5.5%), and Rhizopus stolonifer var. stolonifer (3.6%). Among these, D. eres was first ly report ed to caus e fruit rot on C. mollissima in China. Moreover, disease resistance evaluation of major cultivars showed significant differences: YG, YSSF, and DBH exhibited strong resistance under both natural conditions (with 1.7% to 5.3% DI after 180 days storage) and artificial inoculation (with 33.0±0.6 to 52.6±4.0 DI ); while YJ was highly susceptible (with 47.7% decay incidence and 70.5±7.2 DI ). Correlation analysis revealed that the disease index was negatively correlated with sucrose and sorbitol contents, but positively correlated with stachyose and fructose contents. This study advances the understanding of postharvest chestnut fruit rot, and provide a theoretical basis for breeding resistant cultivars and developing control strategies to mitigate losses and ensure food safety.