Skip Navigation



JXB Advance Access published online on September 12, 2006
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erl129
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
57/14/3679    most recent
erl129v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Murayama, H.
Right arrow Articles by Toyomasu, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Murayama, H.
Right arrow Articles by Toyomasu, T.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Murayama, H.
Right arrow Articles by Toyomasu, T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author [2006]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received May 16, 2006
Accepted July 11, 2006

RESEARCH PAPER

Effect of girdling above the abscission zone of fruit on ‘Bartlett’ pear ripening on the tree

Hideki Murayama 1 *, Daisuke Sekine 1, Yoshiko Yamauchi 1, Mei Gao 2, Wataru Mitsuhashi 1, and Tomonobu Toyomasu 1

1 Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 997-8555, Japan
2 JST (Japan Science and Technology Corporation) Regional Joint Research Project of Yamagata Prefecture, Yamagata 991-0043, Japan; Present address: JST (Japan Science and Technology Corporation) Regional Joint Research Project of Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama 649-6261, Japan

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Hideki Murayama, E-mail: mhideki{at}tds1.tr.yamagata-u.ac.jp


  Abstract

Pear fruit usually soften and develop a melting texture when harvested at the mature green stage and ripened. The reason why the fruit does not fully ripen on the tree is unknown. To clarify this, our attention was directed to the continuous supply of assimilates and/or other substances into the fruit via phloem transport. To determine the effect of inhibiting phloem transport on fruit ripening on the tree, a girdling treatment was applied to the branch above the abscission zone of ‘Bartlett’ pear (Pyrus communis L.). Girdling significantly enhanced the ethylene production of fruit on day 12 compared with control fruit. Fruit softening was also stimulated by girdling. On day 8, flesh firmness was similar in treated fruit on the tree and in fruit off the tree, and was significantly lower than that of untreated fruit on the tree. The patterns of transcript accumulation for the ethylene biosynthetic [1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase (PcACS) and ACC oxidase (PcACO)] and polygalacturonase (PcPG1 and PcPG3) genes showed good correspondence with ethylene production and fruit softening, respectively. Thus, fruit ripening on the tree was stimulated via ethylene by girdling on the branch above the abscission zone of fruit to interrupt phloem transport. Assimilates and/or other substances in phloem sap may prevent fruit ripening on the tree.

Keywords: Ethylene; fruit softening; girdling; Pyrus communis; ripening.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.