An Allele of the Ripening-Specific 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylic Acid Synthase Gene (ACS1) in Apple Fruit with a Long Storage Life¹

Tomomi Sunako, Wakako Sakuraba, Mineo Senda, Shinji Akada, Ryuji Ishikawa, Minoru Niizeki, and Takeo Harada^*

Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science (T.S., W.S., R.I., M.N., T.H.), and Gene Research Center (M.S., S.A.), Hirosaki University, Bunkyo-cho 3, Hirosaki 036-8561, Japan

An allele of the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase gene (Md-ACS1), the transcript and translated product of which have been identified in ripening apples (Malus domestica), was isolated from a genomic library of the apple cultivar, Golden Delicious. The predicted coding region of this allele (ACS1-2) showed that seven nucleotide substitutions in the corresponding region of ACS1-1 resulted in just one amino acid transition. A 162-bp sequence characterized as a short interspersed repetitive element retrotransposon was inserted in the 5-flanking region of ACS1-2 corresponding to position 781 in ACS1-1. The XhoI site located near the 3 end of the predicted coding region of ACS1-2 was absent from the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction product, revealing that exclusive transcription from ACS1-1 occurs during ripening of cv Golden Delicious fruit. DNA gel-blot and polymerase chain reaction analyses of genomic DNAs showed clearly that apple cultivars were either heterozygous for ACS1-1 and ACS1-2 or homozygous for each type. RNA gel-blot analysis of the ACS1-2 homozygous Fuji apple, which produces little ethylene and has a long storage life, demonstrated that the level of transcription from ACS1-2 during the ripening stage was very low.

Plant Physiol. (1999) 119: 1297-1304
Copyright Clearance Center:   0032-0889/99/119//08
© 1999 American Society of Plant Physiologists

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