Aspergillus spp. are widely spread plant pathogens. In several kinds of fruit, especially in apple and peach, aspergillus rot is one of the postharvest desease in fruit, but the infection mechanism is not known. The degradation of cell walls by pathogens is significant in primary infection and afterinfection, and plays an important role in the advancement of mycelium into the host plant and the...

Uptake of Ca(2+) by suspension-cultured pear (Pyrus communis L. cv Passe Crassane) cells and protoplasts was significantly enhanced by exposure to 38 degrees C compared to 25 degrees C. The increased uptake was specific for Ca(2+) and was not due to cell wall binding. Tissues pretreated at 38 degrees C showed increased uptake even upon return to 25 degrees C. Treatment with carbonylcyanide m-ch...

α-Mannosidase (α-Man), a fruit ripening-specific N-glycan processing enzyme, is involved in ripening-associated fruit softening process. However, the regulation of fruit-ripening specific expression of α-Man is not well understood. We have identified and functionally characterized the promoter of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) α-Man to provide molecular insights into its transcriptional regulati...

BACKGROUND One of the main factors that reduce fruit quality and lead to economically important losses is oversoftening. Textural changes during fruit ripening are mainly due to the dissolution of the middle lamella, the reduction of cell-to-cell adhesion and the weakening of parenchyma cell walls as a result of the action of cell wall modifying enzymes. Pectins, major components of fruit cell ...

Expansins are plant proteins that have the capacity to induce extension in isolated cell walls and are thought to mediate pH-dependent cell expansion. J.K.C. Rose, H.H. Lee, and A.B. Bennett ([1997] Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94: 5955-5960) reported the identification of an expansin gene (LeExp1) that is specifically expressed in ripening tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) fruit where cell wall disas...

kiwifruit softening and the spread of gray mold on the fruit are the most important factors to be considered in kiwifruit storage life. in this study, the effect of calcium chloride (0, 1, 2, 4 and 8 percent) for 2, 4 and 8 minutes of dipping time were examined to improve the fruit physicochemical characteristics. following fruits being dried (24 hours), they were stored at 0.5oc and 85-90% rh ...

Fruit ripening in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) requires the coordination of both developmental cues as well as the plant hormone ethylene. Although the role of ethylene in mediating climacteric ripening has been established, knowledge regarding the developmental regulators that modulate the involvement of ethylene in tomato fruit ripening is still lacking. Here, we show that the tomato APETALA...

Japanese plums are classified as climacteric; however, some economically important cultivars selected in California produce very little ethylene and require long ripening both "on" and "off" the tree to reach eating-ripe firmness. To unravel the ripening behavior of different Japanese plum cultivars, ripening was examined in the absence (air) or in the presence of ethylene or propylene (an ethy...

Upon initiation of ripening in avocado fruit (Persea americana Mill. cv Hass) with 10 microliters/liter ethylene, polysome prevalence and associated poly(A)(+) mRNA increase approximately 3-fold early in the respiratory climacteric and drop off to preclimacteric levels at the peak of the respiratory climacteric. The increase in poly(A)(+) mRNA on polysomes early in the respiratory climacteric c...