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Plants
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Genetic Control of Fruit Ripening
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Genetic Control of Fruit Ripening

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2020) | Viewed by 17264

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Fabrizio Costa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Genomic and Biology of Fruit Crops, Research and Innovation Centre, Foundation Edmund Mach, San Michele all’Adige, 38010 Trento, Italy
Interests: genetics; plant breeding; fruit quality; postharvest
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fruit ripening is a unique and genetically controlled process that makes fruits attractive, palatable, and appreciated by consumers, who continuously seek flavorful tasting and nutritious food. During the ripening process, a series of physiological modifications take place, rendering fruit an essential component of a healthy diet. Because of this, the scientific community has sought to improve and preserve fruit quality through the genetic control/manipulation of the main processes occurring during ripening. Genetic analyses, such as QTL mapping and GWAS, have targeted important loci involved in the control of fruit quality traits that can be exploited to assist the breeding of the most favorable ideotypes. Till now, important key genes a playing master role in the regulation of fundamental steps of fruit ripening have been also identified by means of transcriptomics and transgenic approaches, enabling more specific manipulation leading to superior fruit quality or better postharvest performance. According to recent statistics, in the future we will need to feed two billion more people, providing high-quality food produced in a highly sustainable manner. These goals can be achieved only with a multidisciplinary approach, with genetics playing an important role. Several available techniques can enable, for instance, breeding by design activities oriented to the creation of superior varieties satisfying these demands.

Despite the outstanding achievements of the scientific community worldwide, many questions are still not fully answered. The need to reduce loss postharvest and improve the quality of fruit still represents one of the main goals for fruit tree genetics.

To this end, with this Special Issue we welcome the submission of scientific articles focused on the deciphering of the genetic control of important pathways regulating the fruit ripening processes in all types of fruits.

Dr. Fabrizio Costa
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fruit ripening
  • climacteric and non-climacteric fruits
  • fruit quality
  • genetic analysis
  • QTL mapping
  • transcriptomics
  • transgenic manipulation
  • postharvest
  • human health

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 2703 KiB  
Article
Isolation and Analysis of Anthocyanin Pathway Genes from Ribes Genus Reveals MYB Gene with Potent Anthocyanin-Inducing Capabilities
by Pavel Starkevič, Aušra Ražanskienė, Urtė Starkevič, Vaiva Kazanavičiūtė, Erna Denkovskienė, Vidmantas Bendokas, Tadeušas Šikšnianas, Rytis Rugienius, Vidmantas Stanys and Raimundas Ražanskas
Plants 2020, 9(9), 1078; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9091078 - 22 Aug 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2417
Abstract
Horticultural crops of the Ribes genus are valued for their anthocyanin-rich fruits, but until now, there were no data about the genes and regulation of their flavonoid pathway. In this study, the coding sequences of flavonoid pathway enzymes and their putative regulators MYB10, [...] Read more.
Horticultural crops of the Ribes genus are valued for their anthocyanin-rich fruits, but until now, there were no data about the genes and regulation of their flavonoid pathway. In this study, the coding sequences of flavonoid pathway enzymes and their putative regulators MYB10, bHLH3 and WD40 were isolated, and their expression analyzed in fruits with varying anthocyanin levels from different cultivars of four species belonging to the Ribes genus. Transcription levels of anthocyanin synthesis enzymes and the regulatory gene RrMYB10 correlated with fruit coloration and anthocyanin quantities of different Ribes cultivars. Regulatory genes were tested for the ability to modulate anthocyanin biosynthesis during transient expression in the leaves of two Nicotiana species and to activate Prunus avium promoters of late anthocyanin biosynthesis genes in N. tabacum. Functional tests showed a strong capability of RrMyb10 to induce anthocyanin synthesis in a heterologous system, even without the concurrent expression of any heterologous bHLH, whereas RrbHLH3 enhanced MYB-induced anthocyanin synthesis. Data obtained in this work facilitate further analysis of the anthocyanin synthesis pathway in key Ribes species, and potent anthocyanin inducer RrMyb10 can be used to manipulate anthocyanin expression in heterologous systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Control of Fruit Ripening)
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16 pages, 6134 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Identification and Comparative Analysis of MYB Transcription Factor Family in Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana
by Lin Tan, Usman Ijaz, Haron Salih, Zhihao Cheng, Nwe Ni Win Htet, Yu Ge and Farrukh Azeem
Plants 2020, 9(4), 413; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9040413 - 27 Mar 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5537
Abstract
MYB transcription factors (TFs) make up one of the most important TF families in plants. These proteins play crucial roles in processes related to development, metabolism, and stimulus-response; however, very few studies have been reported for the characterization of MYB TFs from banana. [...] Read more.
MYB transcription factors (TFs) make up one of the most important TF families in plants. These proteins play crucial roles in processes related to development, metabolism, and stimulus-response; however, very few studies have been reported for the characterization of MYB TFs from banana. The current study identified 305 and 251 MYB genes from Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, respectively. Comprehensive details of MYBs are reported in terms of gene structure, protein domain, chromosomal localization, phylogeny, and expression patterns. Based on the exon–intron arrangement, these genes were classified into 12 gene models. Phylogenetic analysis of MYBs involving both species of banana, Oryza sativa, and Arabidopsis thaliana distributed these genes into 27 subfamilies. This highlighted not only the conservation, but also the gain/loss of MYBs in banana. Such genes are important candidates for future functional investigations. The MYB genes in both species exhibited a random distribution on chromosomes with variable densities. Estimation of gene duplication events revealed that segmental duplications represented the major factor behind MYB gene family expansion in banana. Expression profiles of MYB genes were also explored for their potential involvement in acetylene response or development. Collectively, the current comprehensive analysis of MYB genes in both species of banana will facilitate future functional studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Control of Fruit Ripening)
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Review

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22 pages, 632 KiB  
Review
Review of the Impact of Apple Fruit Ripening, Texture and Chemical Contents on Genetically Determined Susceptibility to Storage Rots
by Hilde Nybom, Masoud Ahmadi-Afzadi, Kimmo Rumpunen and Ibrahim Tahir
Plants 2020, 9(7), 831; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9070831 - 2 Jul 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 8682
Abstract
Fungal storage rots like blue mould, grey mould, bull’s eye rot, bitter rot and brown rot destroy large amounts of the harvested apple crop around the world. Application of fungicides is nowadays severely restricted in many countries and production systems, and these problems [...] Read more.
Fungal storage rots like blue mould, grey mould, bull’s eye rot, bitter rot and brown rot destroy large amounts of the harvested apple crop around the world. Application of fungicides is nowadays severely restricted in many countries and production systems, and these problems are therefore likely to increase. Considerable variation among apple cultivars in resistance/susceptibility has been reported, suggesting that efficient defence mechanisms can be selected for and used in plant breeding. These are, however, likely to vary between pathogens, since some fungi are mainly wound-mediated while others attack through lenticels or by infecting blossoms. Since mature fruits are considerably more susceptible than immature fruits, mechanisms involving fruit-ripening processes are likely to play an important role. Significant associations have been detected between the susceptibility to rots in harvested fruit and various fruit maturation-related traits like ripening time, fruit firmness at harvest and rate of fruit softening during storage, as well as fruit biochemical contents like acidity, sugars and polyphenols. Some sources of resistance to blue mould have been described, but more research is needed on the development of spore inoculation methods that produce reproducible data and can be used for large screenings, especially for lenticel-infecting fungi. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Control of Fruit Ripening)
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