To ascertain the role of pectin disassembly in fruit softening, chelated- (CSP) and sodium carbonate-soluble (SSP) pectins from plants with a pectate lyase, FaplC, or a polygalacturonase, FaPG1, downregulated by antisense transformation were characterized at the nanostructural level. Fruits from transgenic plants were firmer than the control, although FaPG1 suppression had a greater effect on f...

In this study, it is shown that anti-sense suppression of Malus domestica 1-AMINO-CYCLOPROPANE-CARBOXYLASE OXIDASE (MdACO1) resulted in fruit with an ethylene production sufficiently low to be able to assess ripening in the absence of ethylene. Exposure of these fruit to different concentrations of exogenous ethylene showed that flesh softening, volatile biosynthesis, and starch degradation, ha...

Although the pectin content of tomatoes is relatively low in comparison with other fruits (Money & Christian, 1950), the activity of pectinesterase (pectin pectyl-hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.11) is particularly high (Kertesz, 1938). Softening of the fruit takes place relatively rapidly during ripening (Hobson, 1959), and the classical mechanism by which the effect is usually explained assumes the solub...

Strawberry softening is characterized by an increase in the solubilization and depolymerization of pectins from cell walls. Galactose release from pectin side chains by β-galactosidase enzymes has been proposed as one reason for the increase in soluble pectins. A putative β-galactosidase gene, FaβGal4, has been identified using a custom-made oligonucleotide-based strawberry microarray platform....

Breadfruit marketing is limited by its rapid ripening and deterioration after harvest; therefore, improved postharvest practices may facilitate breadfruit marketing. This study examined the effect of harvest maturity 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on quality ‘Ma’afala’ ( Artocarpus altilis ). was harvested at 13, 15, 17 weeks flowering, half each treated with 1 μL⋅L −1 1-MCP for 20 hours. During ...

Ethylene plays an essential role in many biological processes including fruit ripening via modulation of ethylene signaling pathway. Ethylene Response Factors (ERFs) are key transcription factors (TFs) involved in ethylene perception and are divided into AP2, RAV, ERF, and DREB sub-families. Although a number of studies have implicated the involvement of DREB sub-family genes in stress response...

Softening and pathogen susceptibility are the major factors limiting the marketing of blueberries as fresh fruits, and these traits are associated with fruit cell wall structure. However, few studies that characterize wall modifications occurring during development and ripening have been reported for this fruit. In this study the ripening-associated modifications of blueberry fruit cell walls (...