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. 1979 Oct;64(4):534–537. doi: 10.1104/pp.64.4.534

Polygalacturonase and Cellulase Enzymes in the Normal Rutgers and Mutant rin Tomato Fruits and Their Relationship to the Respiratory Climacteric 1

B W Poovaiah a, A Nukaya a,2
PMCID: PMC543132  PMID: 16661004

Abstract

Cell wall enzymes at different stages of fruit development were compared between the normal Rutgers and the isogenic nonripening rin tomato. In Rutgers, a detectable increase in polygalacturonase (PG) activity was observed 6 days prior to the respiratory climacteric (43 days postanthesis). The maximum increase in PG activity occurred after C2H2 and CO2 production reached their peak. However, in the rin tomato, no change in PG activity was noted up to 100 days postanthesis. Cellulase activity increased in Rutgers fruits prior to the respiratory climacteric and continued to increase thereafter. Similar changes in cellulase activity were also observed in the nonclimacteric rin fruits. Short term ethylene treatment (2 days) of 36-day-old rin fruits increased cellulase activity, but had no effect on PG activity. Detectable changes in other parameters of ripening, such as chlorophyll loss and softening, also occurred prior to the respiratory climacteric. These results suggest that the failure of rin fruits to ripen is related to their low PG activity during maturity as compared with normal fruits.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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