A comprehensive and mechanistic perspective on fruit ripening, emphasizing commonalities and differences between fruit groups and ripening processes.
Fruits are an essential part of the human diet and contain important phytochemicals that provide protection against heart disease and cancers. Fruit ripening is of importance for human health and for industry-based strategies to harness natural variation, or genetic modification, for crop improvement.
This book covers recent advances in the field of plant genomics and how these discoveries can be exploited to understand evolutionary processes and the complex network of hormonal and genetic control of ripening. The book explains the physiochemical and molecular changes in fruit that impact its quality, and recent developments in understanding of the genetic, molecular and biochemical basis for colour, flavour and texture. It is a valuable resource for plant and crop researchers and professionals, agricultural engineers, horticulturists, and food scientists.
Summary:
Reviews the physiochemical and molecular changes in fruit which impact flavour, texture, and colour Covers recent advances in genomics on the genetic, molecular, and biochemical basis of fruit quality Integrates information on both hormonal and genetic control of ripening Relevant for basic researchers and applied scientists
Contents List of Contributors ix Preface xi Chapter 1 Biochemistry of Fruit Ripening 1 Sonia Osorio and Alisdair R. Fernie Introduction 1 Central Carbon Metabolism 4 Ethylene in Ripening 7 Polyamines 9 Volatiles 10 Cell Wall Metabolism 11 Concluding Remarks 13 References 13 Chapter 2 Fruit—An Angiosperm Innovation 21 Sandra Knapp and Amy Litt Introduction 21 Fruit in the Fossil Record 30 Fruit Variation and Angiosperm Phylogeny 32 Fruit Development 33 Fruit as a Driver of Angiosperm Diversity 36 Acknowledgments 38 References 38 Chapter 3 Ethylene and the Control of Fruit Ripening 43 Don Grierson Introduction 43 Ethylene and Climacteric and Nonclimacteric Fruits 46 A Molecular Explanation for System-1 and System-2 Ethylene 48 Ethylene and Ripening Gene Networks in Flower and Fruit Development 53 Ethylene Perception and Signaling 54 Ethylene Response Factors 60 Ethylene and Ripening Gene Expression 60 Conclusions 67 Acknowledgments 68 References 68 Chapter 4 Carotenoid Biosynthesis and Chlorophyll Degradation 75 Peter M. Bramley Introduction 75 Distribution of Carotenoids and Chlorophylls in Fruit 75 Chlorophyll Degradation and Recycling 78 Carotenoids and Carotenoid Metabolites 82 Future Perspectives 100 Acknowledgments 102 Bibliography 102 Chapter 5 Phenylpropanoid Metabolism and Biosynthesis of Anthocyanins 117 Laura Jaakola Introduction 117 Cinnamic Acids 119 Monolignols, Lignans, and Lignin 120 Coumarins 120 Stilbenoids 122 Flavonoids 122 Engineering Elevated Levels of Flavonoids and Other Phenylpropanoids 128 Conclusion 129 References 129 Chapter 6 Biosynthesis of Volatile Compounds 135 Antonio Granell and Jose Luis Rambla Introduction 135 Metabolic Pathways 136 Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci for Volatiles 152 Metabolic Engineering of the Fruit Volatile Pathways 153 Future Perspectives 154 References 155 Chapter 7 Cell Wall Architecture and Metabolism in Ripening Fruit and the Complex Relationship with Softening 163 Eliel Ruiz-May and Jocelyn K.C. Rose Introduction 163 Building Blocks of Fruit Cell Walls 164 The Architecture of Fruit Cell Walls 168 Cell Wall Dynamics in Ripening Fruit 171 The Cuticular Cell Wall and Fruit Softening 177 Summary 179 Acknowledgments 180 References 180 Chapter 8 Regulatory Networks Controlling Ripening 189 Betsy Ampopho, Natalie Chapman, Graham B. Seymour, and James J. Giovannoni Hormonal Control 189 Genetic Networks 191 Epigenetic Regulation 200 References 201 Index 207
Graham B. Seymour is Professor of Plant Biotechnology and Head of the Plant and Crop Science Division at The University of Nottingham, UK. Mervin Poole is Section Manager at Campden BRI - the UK's largest independent membership-based organization carrying out research and development for the food and drinks industry worldwide. James J. Giovannoni is a Research Molecular Biologist for the United States Department of Agriculture, Professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and Adjunct Professor of Plant Biology at Cornell University, USA. Gregory A. Tucker is Professor of Plant Biochemistry and Associate Dean (Science) at The University of Nottingham, UK.
