Plant Physiology Preview Published on April 15, 2005; 10.1104/pp.104.057745
Received December 14, 2004
Returned for revision February 19, 2005
Accepted February 24, 2005
Ethylene Insensitivity Conferred by the Green-ripe and Never-ripe 2 Ripening Mutants of Tomato
Cornelius S. Barry , Ryan P. McQuinn , Andrew J. Thompson , Graham B. Seymour , Donald Grierson , and James J. Giovannoni *
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Ithaca, New York 14853
United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory, Ithaca, New York 14853
Warwick Horticulture Research International, University of Warwick, Wellesbourne, Warwick CV35 9EF, United Kingdom
Plant Science Division, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, LE12 5RD, United Kingdom
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Ithaca, New York 14853; United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory, Ithaca, New York 14853
* Corresponding author; email: jjg33{at}cornell.edu.
The ripening of a fleshy fruit represents the summation of an array of biochemical processes that are regulated by interactions between developmental programs and environmental inputs. Analysis of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) mutants and inhibitor studies indicate that ethylene is necessary for full development of the ripening program of climacteric fruit such as tomato, yet ethylene alone is not sufficient. This suggests that an interaction between ethylene and nonethylene (or developmental) pathways mediates ripening. In this study, we have examined the physiological basis for ripening inhibition of the dominant Green-ripe (Gr) and Never-ripe 2 (Nr-2) mutants of tomato. Our data suggest that this inhibition is due to ethylene insensitivity in mutant fruit. Further investigation of ethylene responses in Gr and Nr-2 plants also revealed weak ethylene insensitivity during floral senescence and abscission and, during inhibition of root elongation, a phenotype associated with the triple response. However, ethylene-induced inhibition of hypocotyl elongation and petiole epinasty are normal in Gr and Nr-2, suggesting that these loci regulate a subset of ethylene responses. We have mapped both dominant mutations to a 2-cM overlapping region of the long arm of chromosome 1 of tomato, a region not previously linked to any known ethylene signaling loci. The phenotypic similarity and overlapping map location of these mutations suggest Gr and Nr-2 may be allelic and may possibly encode a novel component of the ethylene response pathway.
This article has been cited by other articles:

|
 |

|
 |
 
N. Yokotani, R. Nakano, S. Imanishi, M. Nagata, A. Inaba, and Y. Kubo
Ripening-associated ethylene biosynthesis in tomato fruit is autocatalytically and developmentally regulated
J. Exp. Bot.,
August 1, 2009;
60(12):
3433 - 3442.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
T. A. Akhtar, R. P. McQuinn, V. Naponelli, J. F. Gregory III, J. J. Giovannoni, and A. D. Hanson
Tomato {gamma}-Glutamylhydrolases: Expression, Characterization, and Evidence for Heterodimer Formation
Plant Physiology,
October 1, 2008;
148(2):
775 - 785.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. S. Barry, R. P. McQuinn, M.-Y. Chung, A. Besuden, and J. J. Giovannoni
Amino Acid Substitutions in Homologs of the STAY-GREEN Protein Are Responsible for the green-flesh and chlorophyll retainer Mutations of Tomato and Pepper
Plant Physiology,
May 1, 2008;
147(1):
179 - 187.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
L. Trainotti, A. Tadiello, and G. Casadoro
The involvement of auxin in the ripening of climacteric fruits comes of age: the hormone plays a role of its own and has an intense interplay with ethylene in ripening peaches
J. Exp. Bot.,
October 8, 2007;
(2007)
erm178v1.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
F. Carrari, C. Baxter, B. Usadel, E. Urbanczyk-Wochniak, M.-I. Zanor, A. Nunes-Nesi, V. Nikiforova, D. Centero, A. Ratzka, M. Pauly, et al.
Integrated Analysis of Metabolite and Transcript Levels Reveals the Metabolic Shifts That Underlie Tomato Fruit Development and Highlight Regulatory Aspects of Metabolic Network Behavior
Plant Physiology,
December 1, 2006;
142(4):
1380 - 1396.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
S. Meir, D. A. Hunter, J.-C. Chen, V. Halaly, and M. S. Reid
Molecular Changes Occurring during Acquisition of Abscission Competence following Auxin Depletion in Mirabilis jalapa
Plant Physiology,
August 1, 2006;
141(4):
1604 - 1616.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
F. Carrari and A. R. Fernie
Metabolic regulation underlying tomato fruit development
J. Exp. Bot.,
June 1, 2006;
57(9):
1883 - 1897.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. S. Barry and J. J. Giovannoni
From The Cover: Ripening in the tomato Green-ripe mutant is inhibited by ectopic expression of a protein that disrupts ethylene signaling
PNAS,
May 16, 2006;
103(20):
7923 - 7928.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
H. Klee
Highly conserved proteins that modify plant ethylene responses
PNAS,
May 16, 2006;
103(20):
7537 - 7538.
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
S. Park, N. H. Cheng, J. K. Pittman, K. S. Yoo, J. Park, R. H. Smith, and K. D. Hirschi
Increased Calcium Levels and Prolonged Shelf Life in Tomatoes Expressing Arabidopsis H+/Ca2+ Transporters
Plant Physiology,
November 1, 2005;
139(3):
1194 - 1206.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|
|
|