title: A PLENA-like gene of peach is involved in carpel formation and subsequent transformation into a fleshy fruit.
abstract: MADS-box genes have been shown to play a role in the formation of fruits, both in Arabidopsis and in tomato. In peach, two C-class MADS-box genes have been isolated. Both of them are expressed during flower and mesocarp development. Here a detailed analysis of a gene that belongs to the PLENA subfamily of MADS-box genes is shown. The expression of this PLENA-like gene (PpPLENA) increases during fruit ripening, and its ectopic expression in tomato plants causes the transformation of sepals into carpel-like structures that become fleshy and ripen like real fruits. Interestingly, the transgenic berries constitutively expressing the PpPLENA gene show an accelerated ripening, as judged by the expression of genes that are important for tomato fruit ripening. It is suggested that PpPLENA might interfere with the endogenous activity of TAGL1, thereby activating the fruit ripening pathway earlier compared with wild-type tomato plants.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tadiello
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pavanello
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zanin
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Caporali
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.forename: Giuseppe L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Rotino
authors.forename: Livio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trainotti
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Casadoro
mesh_terms: D035264:Flowers / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005638:Fruit / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D027861:Prunus / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D026161:MADS Domain Proteins