title: Isolation and characterization of terpene synthases potentially involved in flavor development of ripening olive (Olea europaea) fruits.
abstract: The flavor and taste of fruits are often determined by terpenes. We identified three cDNAs encoding putative terpene synthases from olive fruits of cv. Frantoio and Grignano. Heterologous expression in a bacterial system demonstrated that one of the terpene synthases, OeGES1, was an active monoterpene synthase that converted geranyl diphosphate to the monoterpene alcohol geraniol. The transcript accumulation pattern of this gene showed a peak during fruit ripening in both genotypes, indicating that the enzyme may be involved in the production of monoterpene flavor compounds in olive fruit. Although the putative terpene synthases OeTPS2 and OeTPS3 clustered with α-farnesene synthases and angiosperm monoterpene synthases, no detectable in vitro activity was found after expression in a bacterial system. Nevertheless, their transcripts sharply accumulated during fruit ripening starting from véraison.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Agronomy and Crop Science, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy. alice.vezzaro@unipd.it
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vezzaro
authors.forename: Sandra T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nonis
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramina
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Degenhardt
authors.forename: Benedetto
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ruperti
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005030:Ethylenes / Q000378:metabolism; D005638:Fruit / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D060434:Herbivory; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000378:metabolism; D031658:Olea / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D005030:Ethylenes; D039821:Monoterpenes; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; C036216:ethylene; D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases; C108877:terpene synthase