Fruit-pathogen interactions are a valuable biological system to study the role of plant development in the transition from resistance to susceptibility. In general, unripe fruit are resistant to pathogen infection but become increasingly more susceptible as they ripen. During ripening, fruit undergo significant physiological and biochemical changes that are coordinated by complex regulatory and...

Infestation of young apple fruits by the larvae of the peach fruit moth, Carposina sasakii Matsumura (Lepidoptera: Carposinidae), was studied by a small dedicated micro-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus using the three-dimensional (3D) gradient-echo method and the two-dimensional (2D) and 3D spin-echo methods. Changes from a young larva at 1.8 mm in length to a mature one ready to leav...

Gene families associated with the ethylene signal transduction pathway in ripening kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa [A. Chev.] C.F. Liang et A.R. Ferguson var. deliciosa cv. Hayward) were isolated from a kiwifruit expressed sequence tag (EST) database, including five ethylene receptor genes, two CTR1-like genes, and an EIN3-like gene AdEIL1. All were differentially expressed among various kiwifru...

Metabolite-specific transporters are present in the inner membrane of the plastid envelope allowing transport between the plastid and other cellular compartments. A plastidic glucose translocator (pGlcT) in leaf mesophyll cells transports glucose from chloroplast stroma to the cytosol after amylolytic starch degradation at night. Here we report the cloning of a pGlcT expressed in olive fruits (...

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) fruit is a valuable product and notorious for the difficulties encountered in determining quality. Typically the degree of ripeness of many climacteric fruits, such as avocado, is measured by assessing flesh firmness. The aim of the presented work was to elucidate the temporal and spatial changes in texture, biochemistry and micro-structure in different avocado ...

An anion-sensitive H(+)-translocating ATPase was identified in membrane vesicles isolated from mature green tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) fruit. The H(+)-ATPase was associated with a low density membrane population having a peak density of 1.11 grams per cubic centimeter, and its activity was inhibited by NO(3) (-), N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and diethylstilbestrol but not by vanadate, az...

The effect of pectic oligomers and 1-aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid on ethylene biosynthesis and color change was studied in ripening tomato pericarp discs excised from mature-green tomato fruit (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Pectic oligomers induced at least four distinct responses when added to pericarp discs: (a) a short-term, transient increase in ethylene biosynthesis; (b) a long-term...

This paper presents the results of the studies on detection of fruit bruises and watercore in their tissues. Both passive and active pulse phase thermography was applied to early detect tissue defect.

Fruit cell wall modification is the primary factor affecting fruit softening. Xyloglucan endotransglycosylase/hydrolase (XTH), a cell wall-modifying enzyme, is involved in fruit softening. In this study, two novel XTH genes (DkXTH6 and DkXTH7) were identified from persimmon fruit. Transcriptional profiles of both of the two genes were analyzed in different tissues of persimmon, and in response ...