title: Comparative transcriptional profiling analysis of developing melon (Cucumis melo L.) fruit from climacteric and non-climacteric varieties.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In climacteric fruit-bearing species, the onset of fruit ripening is marked by a transient rise in respiration rate and autocatalytic ethylene production, followed by rapid deterioration in fruit quality. In non-climacteric species, there is no increase in respiration or ethylene production at the beginning or during fruit ripening. Melon is unusual in having climacteric and non-climacteric varieties, providing an interesting model system to compare both ripening types. Transcriptomic analysis of developing melon fruits from Védrantais and Dulce (climacteric) and Piel de sapo and PI 161375 (non-climacteric) varieties was performed to understand the molecular mechanisms that differentiate the two fruit ripening types.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fruits were harvested at 15, 25, 35 days after pollination and at fruit maturity. Transcript profiling was performed using an oligo-based microarray with 75 K probes. Genes linked to characteristic traits of fruit ripening were differentially expressed between climacteric and non-climacteric types, as well as several transcription factor genes and genes encoding enzymes involved in sucrose catabolism. The expression patterns of some genes in PI 161375 fruits were either intermediate between. Piel de sapo and the climacteric varieties, or more similar to the latter. PI 161375 fruits also accumulated some carotenoids, a characteristic trait of climacteric varieties.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Simultaneous changes in transcript abundance indicate that there is coordinated reprogramming of gene expression during fruit development and at the onset of ripening in both climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. The expression patterns of genes related to ethylene metabolism, carotenoid accumulation, cell wall integrity and transcriptional regulation varied between genotypes and was consistent with the differences in their fruit ripening characteristics. There were differences between climacteric and non-climacteric varieties in the expression of genes related to sugar metabolism suggesting that they may be potential determinants of sucrose content and post-harvest stability of sucrose levels in fruit. Several transcription factor genes were also identified that were differentially expressed in both types, implicating them in regulation of ripening behaviour. The intermediate nature of PI 161375 suggested that classification of melon fruit ripening behaviour into just two distinct types is an over-simplification, and that in reality there is a continuous spectrum of fruit ripening behaviour.
authors.affiliation: IRTA, Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain. montse.saladieforaste@uwa.edu.au.|Present address: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia. montse.saladieforaste@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saladié
authors.affiliation: COMAV, Institute for the Conservation and Breeding of Agricultural Biodiversity, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Camino de Vera s/n, Valencia, 46022, Spain. jcanizares@upv.es.
authors.forename: Joaquin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cañizares
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain. michael.phillips@cragenomica.es.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain. manuel.rodriguez@cragenomica.es.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Concepcion
authors.affiliation: IRTA, Parc Científic i Tecnològic Agroalimentari, Parc de Gardeny, Edifici Fruitcentre, Lleida, 25003, Spain. christian.larrigaudiere@irta.cat.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Larrigaudière
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Wissenschaftspark Golm, Am Mühlenberg 1, Potsdam, 14476, (OT) Golm, Germany. yves.gibon@bordeaux.inra.fr.|Present address: INRA Bordeaux, University of Bordeaux, UMR1332 Fruit Biology and Pathology, Villenave d'Ornon, F-33883, France. yves.gibon@bordeaux.inra.fr.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gibon
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Wissenschaftspark Golm, Am Mühlenberg 1, Potsdam, 14476, (OT) Golm, Germany. mstitt@mpimp-golm.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stitt
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Wissenschaftspark Golm, Am Mühlenberg 1, Potsdam, 14476, (OT) Golm, Germany. lunn@mpimp-golm.mpg.de.
authors.forename: John Edward
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lunn
authors.affiliation: IRTA, Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain. jordi.garcia@irta.cat.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garcia-Mas
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D002980:Climate; D028463:Cucumis melo / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D005638:Fruit / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant