Abstract
The effect of ethylene on fruit ripening has been exploited since biblical times, when gashing of figs was practiced to enhance ripening [1]. It is now known that this treatment would result in the production of wound ethylene that would promote ripening. In climacteric fruit such as tomato, the onset of fruit ripening is normally accompanied by a large increase in ethylene biosynthesis, which is autocatalytic [2]. Tomato fruit ripening involves the autolysis of cell wall pectins, the synthesis of lycopene and other carotenoid pigments, and changes in the acid and sugar content associated with taste [3]. The role of ethylene in controlling fruit ripening is supported by several decades of physiological experiments, and has recently been confirmed by analysis of transgenic tomato plants that are impaired in ethylene production [3]. Fruit with greatly reduced levels of endogenous ethylene either failed to ripen or had significantly retarded ripening. Also, a tomato mutant, Never-ripe, which is impaired in fruit ripening, has recently been shown to be defective in an ethylene receptor [4].
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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Deikman, J., Coupe, S.A., Xu, R. (1997). Control of Gene Transcription by Ethylene During Tomato Fruit Ripening. In: Kanellis, A.K., Chang, C., Kende, H., Grierson, D. (eds) Biology and Biotechnology of the Plant Hormone Ethylene. NATO ASI Series, vol 34. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5546-5_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5546-5_17
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