© 2008 The Author(s).
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RESEARCH PAPER |
Ethylene-induced modulation of genes associated with the ethylene signalling pathway in ripening kiwifruit
1Laboratory of Fruit Molecular Physiology and Biotechnology/The State Agriculture Ministry Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Growth, Development and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Huajiachi Campus, Hangzhou 310029, PR China
2The Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand, Private Bag 92169, Auckland, New Zealand
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: akun{at}zju.edu.cn or iferguson{at}hortresearch.co.nz.
Gene families associated with the ethylene signal transduction pathway in ripening kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa [A. Chev.] C.F. Liang et A.R. Ferguson var. deliciosa cv. Hayward) were isolated from a kiwifruit expressed sequence tag (EST) database, including five ethylene receptor genes, two CTR1-like genes, and an EIN3-like gene AdEIL1. All were differentially expressed among various kiwifruit vine tissues, and none was fruit specific. During fruit development, levels of transcripts of AdERS1a, AdETR3, and the two CTR1-like genes decreased, whereas those of AdERS1b and AdETR2 peaked at 97 d after full bloom. In ripening kiwifruit, there was a diverse response of the ethylene receptor family to internal and external ethylene. AdERS1a, AdETR2, and AdETR3 expression increased at the climacteric stage and transcripts were induced by external ethylene treatment, while AdERS1b showed no response to ethylene. AdETR1 was negatively regulated by internal and external ethylene in ripening fruit. The two CTR1-like genes also had different expression patterns, with AdCTR1 increasing at the climacteric stage and AdCTR2 undergoing little change. 1-Methylcyclopropene treatment prevented the ethylene response of all components, but transient down-regulation was only found with AdETR2 and AdCTR1. Similar gene and ethylene responses were found in both fruit flesh and core tissues. The ethylene-induced down-regulation of AdETR1 suggests that it may have a role in sensing ethylene and transmitting this response to other members of the receptor family, thus activating the signal transduction pathway.
Key words: Actinidia, ethylene receptor, ethylene response, ethylene signal transduction, fruit ripening, gene expression, kiwifruit, 1-MCP
Received 21 December 2007; Revised 12 February 2008 Accepted 13 February 2008
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