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Metabolism and Enzymology

Banana Ripening: Implications of Changes in Glycolytic Intermediate Concentrations, Glycolytic and Gluconeogenic Carbon Flux, and Fructose 2,6-Bisphosphate Concentration ¹

Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, Department of Biochemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, U.S. Department of Agriculture Tobacco Safety Laboratory Athens, Georgia 30605

In ripening banana (Musa sp. [AAA group, Cavendish subgroup] cv Valery) fruit, the concentration of glycolytic intermediates increased in response to the rapid conversion of starch to sugars and CO₂. Glucose 6-phosphate (G-6-P), fructose 6-phosphate (Fru 6-P), and pyruvate (Pyr) levels changed in synchrony, increasing to a maximum one day past the peak in ethylene synthesis and declining rapidly thereafter. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (Fru 1,6-P₂) and phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) levels underwent changes dissimilar to those of G 6-P, Fru 6-P, and Pyr, indicating that carbon was regulated at the PEP/Pyr and Fru 6-P/Fru 1,6-P₂ interconversion sites. During the climacteric respiratory rise, gluconeogenic carbon flux increased 50- to 100-fold while glycolytic carbon flux increased only 4- to 5-fold. After the climacteric peak in CO₂ production, gluconeogenic carbon flux dropped dramatically while glycolytic carbon flux remained elevated. The steady-state fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (Fru 2,6-P₂) concentration decreased to that of preclimacteric fruit during the period coinciding with the rapid increase in gluconeogenesis. Fru 2,6-P₂ concentration increased thereafter as glycolytic carbon flux increased relative to gluconeogenic carbon flux. It appears likely that the initial increase in respiration in ripening banana fruit is due to the rapid influx of carbon into the cytosol as starch is degraded. As starch reserves are depleted and the levels of intermediates decline, the continued enhancement of respiration may, in part, be maintained by an increased steady-state Fru 2,6-P₂ concentration acting to promote glycolytic carbon flux at the step responsible for the interconversion of Fru 6-P and Fru 1,6-P₂.

¹ Supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation through grant DMB 85-42649 to C. C. B.