The aim of the present study was to investigate the importance of the preculture conditions on the survival of apple (Malus domestica Borkh., cv. Romus4 and rootstock M106) shoot tips cryopreserved using a combined droplet vitrification procedure. Preculture was critical for the survival of apple shoot tips after cryopreservation. Among the different tested sugars and sugar alcohols (glucose, s...

A simple tandem mass spectrometry method for differentiating isomeric monoglycosyl flavonols, flavones, and flavanones using manganese complexation is reported. Dissociation of the [Mn(II) (L) (L - H)]+ and [Mn(II) (L)2 (L - H)]+ species provides unique fragment ions that allow the identification of the saccharide moiety as glucose, galactose, arabinose, or xylose. The glycosylation site of the...

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...

Advanced studies of apple (Malus domestica Borkh) development, physiology, and biochemistry have been hampered by the lack of appropriate genomics tools. One exception is the recent acquisition of extensive expressed sequence tag (EST) data. The entire available EST dataset for apple resulted from the efforts of at least 20 contributors and was derived from more than 70 cDNA libraries represent...

Advanced studies of apple (Malus domestica Borkh) development, physiology, and biochemistry have been hampered by the lack of appropriate genomics tools. One exception is the recent acquisition of extensive expressed sequence tag (EST) data. The entire available EST dataset for apple resulted from the efforts of at least 20 contributors and was derived from more than 70 cDNA libraries represent...

Ethylene-forming enzyme (EFE) was isolated from apple (Malus domestica Borkh. cv Golden Delicious) fruit tissue. The enzyme activity in the homogenate is associated with the pellet fraction and can be solubilized with Triton X-100 or polyvinylpolypyrrolidone. The solubilized enzyme system resembles the in vivo system in that it exhibits a low K(m) (17 micromolar) for its substrate 1-aminocyclop...

The active site and substrate-binding mode of MD-ACO1 (Malus domestica Borkh. 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase) have been determined using site-directed mutagenesis and comparative modelling methods. The MD-ACO1 protein folds into a compact jelly-roll motif comprised of eight a-helices, 12 b-strands and several long loops. The active site is well defined as a wide cleft near the C-term...