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Silver ions inhibit the ethylene‐stimulated production of ripening‐related mRNAs in tomato
Author(s) -
DAVIES K. M.,
HOBSON G. E.,
GRIERSON D.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3040.1988.tb01157.x
Subject(s) - ripening , pectinase , ethylene , biochemistry , chemistry , complementary dna , softening , biology , enzyme , food science , gene , materials science , composite material , catalysis
. Silver ions effectively inhibited both the initiation and the continuation of tomato ( Lyeopersicon esculentum Mill) ripening. Studies of protein synthesis in vivo showed that application of 2 mol m −3 silver thiosulphate to mature green fruit prevented the appearance of several novel proteins associated with ripening, including the softening enzyme polygalacturonase. However, total protein synthesis, as judged by the incorporation of [ 35 S] methionine into proteins, continued unabated after silver treatment. Ripening was also arrested when silver was supplied after ripening had begun. The accumulation of several ripening‐related mRNAs, including that for polygalacturonase, was studied by translation in vitro and using cDNA clones as hybridization probes. Silver was shown to prevent the appearance of polygalaturonase mRNA when supplied to mature green fruit and to cause a rapid reduction in the concentration of mRNA for polygalacturonase and other ripening‐related proteins when supplied after ripening had begun. It is proposed that silver exerts its effects due to interaction with the ethylene perception mechanism. The results suggest that perception of ethylene is vital not only for the initiation of ripening but also for the continued expression of genes required for ripening.