HYDERABAD: A team of plant scientists at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has made a breakthrough in collaborative research by identifying a conserved mechanism that controls tomato fruit ripening through the inhibition of ethylene biosynthesis.
This knowledge is crucial as it can help minimize post-harvest losses during the transport and storage of fruits and vegetables. Developing superior varieties will benefit both farmers and consumers who want fresh and high-quality agriculture products. Effective biotechnological strategies improve ripening traits, such as fruit flavour, pigment accumulation, and shelf-life.
The team, led by Dr Rahul Kumar of UoH in collaboration with Prof Arun K Sharma of the University of Delhi, found that several non-ripening tomatoes have high levels of Methylglyoxal (MG), which prevents them from ripening. The research findings were recently published in Plant Physiology, one of the top scientific journals published by the American Society of Plant Biologists, USA, due to their novelty and significance.
The team developed overexpression and gene-silenced lines, which involved making too many copies and interrupting the expression of one of the ripening-associated glyoxalase enzymes. They showed that gene silencing led to drastic MG overaccumulation during ripening stages, inhibiting fruit ripening. The ripening phenotypes of non-ripening mutants were also phenocopied by the fruit. Further investigations revealed that MG indirectly affects fruit pigmentation and cell metabolism.
The study reported a novel mechanism that regulates fruit ripening programs, which can help improve ripening traits in fleshy fruits.