‘Movers and shakers’ in the regulation of fruit ripening: a cross-dissection of climacteric versus non-climacteric fruit

Abstract

Fruit ripening is a complex and highly coordinated developmental process involving the expression of many ripening-related genes under the control of a network of signalling pathways. The hormonal control of climacteric fruit ripening, especially ethylene perception and signalling transduction in tomato has been well characterized. Additionally, great strides have been made in understanding some of the major regulatory switches (transcription factors such as RIPENING-INHIBITOR and other transcriptional regulators such as COLOURLESS NON-RIPENING, TOMATO AGAMOUS-LIKE1 and ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTORs), that are involved in tomato fruit ripening. In contrast, the regulatory network related to non-climacteric fruit ripening remains poorly understood. However, some of the most recent breakthrough research data have provided several lines of evidences for abscisic acid- and sucrose-mediated ripening of strawberry, a non-climacteric fruit model. In this review, we discuss the most recent research findings concerning the hormonal regulation of fleshy fruit ripening and their cross-talk and the future challenges taking tomato as a climacteric fruit model and strawberry as a non-climacteric fruit model. We also highlight the possible contribution of epigenetic changes including the role of plant microRNAs, which is opening new avenues and great possibilities in the fields of fruit-ripening research and postharvest biology.

Influence of Fruit Ripening on Color, Organic Acid Contents, Capsaicinoids, Aroma Compounds, and Antioxidant Capacity of Shimatogarashi (<i>Capsicum frutescens</i>)

“…The content of all three organic acids significantly increased from the green stage to the red stage Figs. 1A and 1B , as the fruits generally accumulate citric, ascorbic and malic acid during maturation 21 . Compared to Takanotsume which had citric acid as its most dominant organic acid 9 , among the organic acids in Shimatogarashi, malic acid was present in the largest quantities .…”

Effects of preharvest applications of methyl jasmonate and chitosan on postharvest decay, quality and chemical attributes of Fragaria chiloensis fruit

“…Fragaria chiloensis (L.) Mill., commonly known as Chilean strawberry, is noted for its good fruit quality characters, presenting a particular white color and an intense aroma, but it exhibits a high softening rate during ripening, which can negatively impact its postharvest life (Figueroa et al, 2010). Being a non-climacteric fruit, strawberries do not ripen during postharvest and therefore must be harvested at the nearly full-ripe stage (Cherian, Figueroa, & Nair, 2014). On the other hand, strawberries are found to be highly perishable due to fungal attack during their storage.…”

Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes between “Honeycrisp” and “Golden Delicious” Apple Fruit Tissues Reveal Candidates for Crop Improvement

“…In both sampling time points, GD peel tissues were observed to have higher abundance of SKP1-like and e4-like ubiquitin conjugation factor transcripts (MDP0000213808), than in HC peel and endocarp. As critical components of the 26S-ubiquitin proteolytic pathway, differential abundance of these transcripts may suggest variability in GD and HC post-translational regulation of key points of both ethylene signaling and biosynthesis in fruits [49,50]. We also identified a transcript (MDP0000547450) with homology to UNC93-like genes in higher abundance in GD peel, compared to all HC tissues.…”

“…MDP0000176723 (AAE18) is thought to play a role in response to auxin precursors (indole-3-butyric acid, IBA) in the peroxisome, and may modulate available IBA via amino acid conjugation for downstream processing into active IAA [46][47][48][49]. With recent focus on the roles of auxin in fruit ripening, this presents a powerful link between peroxisome metabolites and auxin accumulation as apple fruit undergo ripening.…”