Regulation of Ethylene Synthesis of Harvested Banana Fruit by 1-Methylcyclopropene
Ming-Jin Zhang1, Yue-Ming Jiang2, Wei-Bo Jiang1* and Xue-Jun Liu3
1College of Food Science, China Agricultural University, PO Box 111, Qinghua Donglu No. 17, Beijing 100083, PR China
2South China Botanic Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, PR China
3Laboratory of Postharvest Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Okayama University, 1-1 Naka 1-chome, Tsushima, Okayama 700–8530, Japan
Article history:
Received October 7, 2004
Accepted February 28, 2005
Key words:
1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid, banana, ethylene, 1-methylcyclopropene, respiration, synthesis
Summary:
Treatment with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), a potent inhibitor of ethylene action, delayed the decrease in fruit firmness and the time in peaks of respiration and ethylene production rates, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) concentration, and ACC oxidase (ACO) activity of banana fruit, but exogenous ethylene treatment was not able to induce fruit ripening when the fruit was treated with 200 nL/L of 1-MCP. Furthermore, 1-MCP treatment delayed expression of ACC synthase (ACS) and ACO genes, two ripening- related genes in ethylene synthesis. These results demonstrated that ripening process of banana fruit was delayed at a physiological level by 1-MCP, while ethylene synthesis could be regulated at suppressed transcript levels of ACS and ACO genes.
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