title: Over-expression of mouse ornithine decarboxylase gene under the control of fruit-specific promoter enhances fruit quality in tomato.
abstract: Diamine putrescine (Put) and polyamines; spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm) are essential component of every cell because of their involvement in the regulation of cell division, growth and development. The aim of this study is to enhance the levels of Put during fruit development and see its implications in ripening and quality of tomato fruits. Transgenic tomato plants over-expressing mouse ornithine decarboxylase gene under the control of fruit-specific promoter (2A11) were developed. Transgenic fruits exhibited enhanced levels of Put, Spd and Spm, with a concomitant reduction in ethylene levels, rate of respiration and physiological loss of water. Consequently such fruits displayed significant delay of on-vine ripening and prolonged shelf life over untransformed fruits. The activation of Put biosynthetic pathway at the onset of ripening in transgenic fruits is also consistent with the improvement of qualitative traits such as total soluble solids, titratable acids and total sugars. Such changes were associated with alteration in expression pattern of ripening specific genes. Transgenic fruits were also fortified with important nutraceuticals like lycopene, ascorbate and antioxidants. Therefore, these transgenic tomatoes would be useful for the improvement of tomato cultivars through breeding approaches.
authors.affiliation: Plant Polyamine, Transgenic and RNAi Research Laboratory, Department of Genetics, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, 110021, India.
authors.forename: Roopali
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.forename: Aarti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Anuj
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chowdhary
authors.forename: Ram Krishna
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: Manchikatla Venkat
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Rajam
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015317:Biogenic Polyamines / Q000378:metabolism; D005030:Ethylenes / Q000096:biosynthesis; D030841:Food, Genetically Modified; D005638:Fruit / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D017343:Genes, Plant; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D051379:Mice; D009753:Nutritive Value; D009955:Ornithine Decarboxylase / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011700:Putrescine / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D015317:Biogenic Polyamines; D005030:Ethylenes; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018749:RNA, Plant; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C036216:ethylene; D009955:Ornithine Decarboxylase; D011700:Putrescine