Molecular and genetic aspects of ripening and qualitative traits of peach and nectarine fruits
Ziliotto F.; Begheldo M.; Rasori A.; Bonghi C.; Ramina A. and Tonutti P.
5th International Postharvest Symposium . Volume of Abstract . Verona, Italy 6-11 June 2004, p.129
2004
บทคัดย่อ
Molecular and genetic aspects of ripening and qualitative traits of peach and nectarine fruits
During fruit ripening, several parameters most of them linked to quality traits undergo significant changes whose biological bases and mechanisms are only partially understood. A useful tool to elucidate molecular and genetic mechanisms regulating ripening is represented by mutants which, at least in tomato, show an altered perception and/or transduction pathway of ethylene. A selection of the nectarine cv Fantasia, characterized by a block of the ripening process apparently due to an altereted synthesis of ethylene and/or an insensitivity to the hormone, has been isolated and used in the attempt of better understanding some peculiar aspects of the ripening physiology of this fruit species (e.g., the rapid evolution of the softening and melting processes resulting in reduced shelf-life). The cDNA-AFLP technique has been used and the patterns of isolated bands compared in the selection and wild-type fruits throughout development and in correspondence of ethylene climacteric. At ripening, 73 polymorphic bands have been detected: 10 of these fragments showed high homology (> 70%) to Arabidopsis and rice genes and data on their expression patterns during ripening are presented.
Microarray technology allows to conduct systematic studies on gene expression on a large scale base. The application of this technology requires the construction of EST (expressed sequence tags) databases, sufficiently large and representative of the process under investigation. In cooperation with other research units and within a National Consortium aimed to study genomics and functional genomics in peach, an EST database has been created and oligonucleotide-microarray produced.
Results of microarrays hybridization with RNA extracted from the slr selection and the wild-type and peach or nectarine varieties characterized by different ripening patterns (e.g. melting vs non-melting), organoleptic traits (e.g., high aroma vs low aroma) and/or postharvest behaviour are presented.