N-(2-Chloro-4-pyridyl)-N'-phenylurea (CPPU) is a highly active cytokinin-like plant growth regulator that promotes chlorophyll biosynthesis, cell division, and cell expansion. It also increases fruit set and accelerates fruit enlargement. However, there has been no report about the effect of CPPU on fruit development and its physiological mechanism in macadamia. In this study, we investigated t...

Potassium (K+ ), an abundant cation in plant cells, is important in fruit development and plant resistance. However, how cellular K+ is directed by potassium channels in fruit development and quality formation of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is not yet fully clear. Here, a two-pore K+ (TPK) channel gene in strawberry, FaTPK1, was cloned using reverse transcription-PCR. A green fluorescent p...

Although great progress has been made towards understanding the role of abscisic acid (ABA) and sucrose in fruit ripening, the mechanisms underlying the ABA and sucrose signalling pathways remain elusive. In this study, transcription factor ABA-stress-ripening (ASR), which is involved in the transduction of ABA and sucrose signalling pathways, was isolated and analysed in the nonclimacteric fru...

Cell production is an essential facilitator of fruit growth and development. Cell production during carpel/floral-tube growth, fruit set, and fruit growth, and its regulation by cell cycle genes were investigated in apple (Malus×domestica Borkh.). Cell production was inhibited during late carpel/floral-tube development, resulting in growth arrest before bloom. Fruit set re-activated cell produc...

We have conducted a comprehensive metabolic profiling on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) leaf and developing fruit tissue using a recently established gas chromatography-mass spectrometry profiling protocol alongside conventional spectrophotometric and liquid chromatographic methodologies. Applying a combination of these techniques, we were able to identify in excess of 70 small-M(r) metabolit...

Seed and fruit development are intimately related processes controlled by internal signals and environmental cues. The absence of seeds is usually appreciated by consumers and producers because it increases fruit quality and fruit shelf-life. One method to produce seedless fruit is to develop plants able to produce fruits independently from pollination and fertilization of the ovules. The onset...

The relationship of 6-benzylaminopurine (BA)-induced fruitlet abscission to seed number and endogenous cytokinin levels in the fruit and leaves was examined in `McIntosh' apples (Malus domestica Borkh.). BA applied at the 10 mm stage of fruit development effectively thinned apple fruit and increased fruit size. The seed number of abscising fruit increased as BA concentrations increased. In pers...

Tomato fruit is renowned for its high concentration of phyto-nutrients such as lycopene and carotenoids, overall contribution to nutrition and human health. The effect of antisense suppression of ethylene receptor genes LeETR1 and LeETR2 over the quality of tomato fruit was investigated in this paper. During the different stages of ripening, the fruit of antisense transgenic tomatoes of ale1 an...

The phytohormone auxin regulates various developmental programs in plants, including cell growth, cell division and cell differentiation. The auxin efflux carriers are essential for the auxin transport. To show an involvement of auxin transporters in the coordination of fruit development in bitter gourd, a juicy fruit, we isolated novel cDNAs (referred as McPIN) encoding putative auxin efflux c...

Sorbitol, the primary photosynthate and translocated carbohydrate in apple (Malusxdomestica Borkh.), is converted to fructose by sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH; EC 1.1.1.14) which is active in apple fruit throughout development. In the apple genome, nine SDH genes have been isolated and their sequences characterized, but their individual expression patterns during apple fruit set and development h...