Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) fruit ripening is initiated by an increase in ethylene hormone concentration. E8 gene transcription is fruit-specific and is activated at the onset of ripening and in unripe fruit treated with exogenous ethylene. To understand how E8 gene transcription is controlled during ripening, we analyzed the effect of deletions of flanking DNA sequences on E8 gene express...

The shelf life of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit is determined by the processes of overripening and susceptibility to pathogens. Postharvest shelf life is one of the most important traits for commercially grown tomatoes. We compared the shelf life of tomato fruit that accumulate different flavonoids and found that delayed overripening is associated with increased total antioxidant capacity...

Exposing pericarp tissue excised from immature tomato fruit to 4.5 mmol l C2H4 revealed a negative C2H4 feedback mechanism in relation to its biosynthesis since ACC concentration and C2H4 production by the tissue were reduced. An opposite trend (positive C2H4 feedback mechanism) was observed in pericarp tissue excised from fruit at the pink stage. At the mature-green stage however, tissue showe...

Polyamines (PAs) are ubiquitous, polycationic biogenic amines that are implicated in many biological processes, including plant growth and development, but their precise roles remain to be determined. Most of the previous studies have involved three biogenic amines: putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm), and their derivatives. We have expressed a yeast spermidine synthase (ySpdS...

The solanaceous group of vegetables (tomato, eggplant, chili and bell peppers) generally take up large amounts of nutrients. The amount of nutrients they take up depends on the quantity of fruit and dry matter they produce, which in turn is influenced by a number of genetic and environmental variables. For tomato to produce 1 mt of fresh fruit, plants need to absorb, on average, 2.5 to 3 kg N, ...

Ethephon (2-chloroethylphosphonic acid) was applied to single cluster greenhouse tomato crops (1000 ppm) at the green mature stage of fruit development or when 35% of the plants had fruits at the breaker stage. Fruits were harvested at the pink stage. Untreated fruit were harvested from 95 to 116 days after sowing whereas fruit from the green mature ethephon treatment were harvested from 92 to ...

Fruit, corresponding to the plant’s ovary (or ovaries), protect seed development and serve as the vehicle for seed dispersal to different habitats for species propagation. Fruit also provide humans with a source of nutrition, culinary diversity, and often great pleasure. Humans consume fruit from a wide range of plants, including members of the Rutaceae (citrus), Rosaceae (stone fruits, apples,...

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) are common diseases of tomato in Florida. TYLCV occurs in central and southern Florida whereas TSWV occurs in northern Florida and throughout all states of the southeastern USA. TYLCVresistant cultivars and advanced breeder’s varieties are available for commercial use, but vegetable producers don’t often use them. A vari...