MdERFs, two ethylene-response factors involved in apple fruit ripening

• Published in: Journal of experimental botany Vol. 58; no. 13; pp. 3743 - 3748
• Main Authors: Wang, Aide, Tan, Dongmei, Takahashi, Ayako, Zhong Li, Tian, Harada, Takeo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01.10.2007; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: 1-methylcyclopropene; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Amino Acid Sequence; antagonists; Apple fruit; apples; Arabidopsis; Biological and medical sciences; chemistry; Complementary DNA; Cultivars; Cyclopropanes; DNA; drug effects; Economic plant physiology; ERF; ethylene; Ethylene production; Ethylenes; Ethylenes - metabolism; Fructification, ripening. Postharvest physiology; Fruit; Fruit - drug effects; Fruit - growth & development; Fruits; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gels; gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - drug effects; Genes; genetics; growth & development; Growth and development; Malus; Malus - drug effects; Malus - genetics; Malus - metabolism; Malus domestica; metabolism; Molecular Sequence Data; Plant Proteins; Plant Proteins - chemistry; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plant tissues; Plants; receptors; Research Papers; Ripening; RNA; Transcription factors; ERF; Apple fruit; ripening; ethylene; Ripening; Fruit; Ethylene
• ISSN: 0022-0957; 1460-2431; 1460-2431
• DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erm224

Two MdERFs (ethylene-response factors) were isolated from ripening apple (Malus×domestica Borkh. cv. Golden Delicious) fruit. The features of their conserved motifs indicated that MdERF1 and MdERF2 belong to group VII and group IX categories in Arabidopsis, respectively. MdERF1 was expressed predominantly in ripening fruit, although a small degree of expression was also observed in non-fruit tissues, whereas MdERF2 was expressed exclusively in ripening fruit. The increased expression in ripening fruit was repressed by treatment with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP: a potent antagonist of ethylene receptors), indicating that transcription is regulated positively by the ethylene signalling system. Indeed, it was a tendency for cultivars with low ethylene production to show lower MdERFs expression than those with high ethylene production. On the basis of concomitant analyses of the expression of some genes related to ripening, the functions of MdERFs and the role of ethylene in the ripening process are discussed.