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Plant Physiol, February 2002, Vol. 128, pp. 751-759
Manipulation of Strawberry Fruit Softening by Antisense
Expression of a Pectate Lyase Gene1
Silvia
Jiménez-Bermúdez,
José
Redondo-Nevado,
Juan
Muñoz-Blanco,
José L.
Caballero,
José M.
López-Aranda,
Victoriano
Valpuesta,
Fernando
Pliego-Alfaro,
Miguel A.
Quesada, and
José A.
Mercado*
Departamento de Biología Vegetal, Universidad de
Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain (S.J.-B., F.P.-A., M.A.Q.,
J.A.M.); Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología
Molecular, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
(J.R.-N., J.M.-B., J.L.C.); Departamento de Bioquímica y
Biología Molecular, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain (V.V.); and Centro de Investigación y
Formación Agraria, 29140 Churriana, Málaga, Spain
(J.M.L.-A.)
Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa, Duch., cv Chandler) is a soft fruit with a
short postharvest life, mainly due to a rapid lost of firm texture. To
control the strawberry fruit softening, we obtained transgenic plants
that incorporate an antisense sequence of a strawberry pectate lyase
gene under the control of the 35S promoter. Forty-one independent
transgenic lines (Apel lines) were obtained, propagated in the
greenhouse for agronomical analysis, and compared with control plants,
non-transformed plants, and transgenic lines transformed with the
pGUSINT plasmid. Total yield was significantly reduced in 33 of the 41 Apel lines. At the stage of full ripen, no differences in color, size,
shape, and weight were observed between Apel and control fruit.
However, in most of the Apel lines, ripened fruits were significantly
firmer than controls. Six Apel lines were selected for further
analysis. In all these lines, the pectate lyase gene expression in
ripened fruit was 30% lower than in control, being totally suppressed in three of them. Cell wall material isolated from ripened Apel fruit
showed a lower degree of in vitro swelling and a lower amount of
ionically bound pectins than control fruit. An analysis of firmness at
three different stages of fruit development (green, white, and red)
showed that the highest reduction of softening in Apel fruit occurred
during the transition from the white to the red stage. The postharvest
softening of Apel fruit was also diminished. Our results indicate that
pectate lyase gene is an excellent candidate for biotechnological
improvement of fruit softening in strawberry.
1
This work was supported by the European
Community (grant no. FAIR CT97-3005), by the Instituto Nacional de
Investigaciones Agrarias, Spain (grant no. SC97-009), and by the
Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologia, Spain (grant
no. BIO98-0496).
*
Corresponding author; e-mail mercado{at}uma.es; fax
34-952-13-1944.
© 2002 American Society of Plant Physiologists
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