Delay of postharvest ripening and senescence of tomato fruit through virus-induced LeACS2 gene silencing

Plant virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is currently a powerful tool for the study of gene function in plants. Here we report the silencing of LeACS2 by vacuum-infiltration and the tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based VIGS method, which leads to a significant delay of the postharvest ripening and sene...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Postharvest biology and technology 2006-10, Vol.42 (1), p.8-15
Main Authors: Xie, YuanHong, Zhu, BenZhong, Yang, XiangLong, Zhang, HongXing, Fu, DaQi, Zhu, HongLiang, Shao, Yi, Li, YingCong, Gao, HongYan, Luo, YunBo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase
Agrobacterium
Biological and medical sciences
enzyme activity
ethylene production
food composition
Food industries
Fruit and vegetable industries
Fruit ripening
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
gene expression
gene silencing
genes
Lycopersicon esculentum
plant pigments
postharvest physiology
ripening
senescence
temporal variation
Tobacco rattle virus
tomatoes
Vacuum infiltration
VIGS
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Plant virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is currently a powerful tool for the study of gene function in plants. Here we report the silencing of LeACS2 by vacuum-infiltration and the tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based VIGS method, which leads to a significant delay of the postharvest ripening and senescence of tomato fruit. Harvested mature green tomato fruit were vacuum-infiltrated with Agrobacterium strain GV3101 containing pTRV1 and pTRV2- LeACS2. Because of the silencing of LeACS2, the ethylene climacteric and pigment changes were clearly delayed. The onset of fruit ripening and senescence was significantly postponed, and transcription of LeACS2 and ACC synthase activity were also suppressed in treated tomato fruit during storage. The silencing of LeACS2 by vacuum infiltration, however, did not alter the contents assayed at the end of storage. Our results indicate that vacuum infiltration is a highly efficient TRV-based VIGS method to silence LeACS2 in harvested tomato fruit. It can obviously delay ripening and senescence, and is a potential method for postharvest preservation of tomato fruit.
ISSN:0925-5214
1873-2356
DOI:10.1016/j.postharvbio.2006.04.016