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A review of the role of ethylene in biochemical control of ripening in tomato fruit

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Abstract

The possible ways in which ethylene controls cell wall degradation and colour change are compared with the control of the respiratory rate of ripening tomato fruit. It would appear that the biosynthesis of ethylene is intimately involved with the former change but control of the latter change is much more complex and could be less ethylene dependent than previously thought. Increases in the respiratory rate may either involve extra-mitochondrial decarboxylation and the cyanide-insensitive part of the electron transport chain or direct stimulation of dark respiration and the cyanide-sensitive electron transport. Although ethylene cannot be shown to influence the individual biochemical steps which would lead to increased respiration there appears to be ethylene stimulation of overall gas exchange. Existing data on the two separate systems of ethylene metabolism seem to rule out the OX (CO2 formation) pathway as the source of the “climacteric” carbon dioxide. Either the OX or the TI (tissue incorporation) systems of ethylene metabolism are candidates for the “switch on” of transcription and translation of genes involved in cell-wall hydrolysis. Considerable opportunities exist for clarification of the role of bioregulators in gas exchange in ripening tomato fruit.

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  1. Long Ashton Research Station, University of Bristol, Long Ashton, BS18 9AF, Bristol, UK

    P. W. Goodenough

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Goodenough, P.W. A review of the role of ethylene in biochemical control of ripening in tomato fruit. Plant Growth Regul 4, 125–137 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00025194

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00025194

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