title: Banana MaMADS Transcription Factors Are Necessary for Fruit Ripening and Molecular Tools to Promote Shelf-Life and Food Security.
abstract: Genetic solutions to postharvest crop loss can reduce cost and energy inputs while increasing food security, especially for banana (Musa acuminata), which is a significant component of worldwide food commerce. We have functionally characterized two banana E class (SEPALLATA3 [SEP3]) MADS box genes, MaMADS1 and MaMADS2, homologous to the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) RIN-MADS ripening gene. Transgenic banana plants repressing either gene (via antisense or RNA interference [RNAi]) were created and exhibited specific ripening delay and extended shelf-life phenotypes, including delayed color development and softening. The delay in fruit ripening is associated with a delay in climacteric respiration and reduced synthesis of the ripening hormone ethylene; in the most severe repressed lines, no ethylene was produced and ripening was most delayed. Unlike tomato rin mutants, banana fruits of all transgenic repression lines responded to exogenous ethylene by ripening normally, likely due to incomplete transgene repression and/or compensation by other MADS box genes. Our results show that, although MADS box ripening gene necessity is conserved across diverse taxa (monocots to dicots), unlike tomato, banana ripening requires at least two necessary members of the SEPALLATA MADS box gene group, and either can serve as a target for ripening control. The utility of such genes as tools for ripening control is especially relevant in important parthenocarpic crops such as the vegetatively propagated and widely consumed Cavendish banana, where breeding options for trait improvement are severely limited.
authors.affiliation: Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel 7510001 (T.E., E.Y., L.Q., H.F.);Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Robert W. Holley Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2901 (F.Z., J.V., J.J.G.); andRahan Meristem, Ltd., Rosh Hanikra, Western Galilee, Israel 22825 (E.K.).
authors.forename: Tomer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Elitzur
authors.affiliation: Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel 7510001 (T.E., E.Y., L.Q., H.F.);Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Robert W. Holley Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2901 (F.Z., J.V., J.J.G.); andRahan Meristem, Ltd., Rosh Hanikra, Western Galilee, Israel 22825 (E.K.).
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yakir
authors.affiliation: Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel 7510001 (T.E., E.Y., L.Q., H.F.);Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Robert W. Holley Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2901 (F.Z., J.V., J.J.G.); andRahan Meristem, Ltd., Rosh Hanikra, Western Galilee, Israel 22825 (E.K.).
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Quansah
authors.affiliation: Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel 7510001 (T.E., E.Y., L.Q., H.F.);Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Robert W. Holley Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2901 (F.Z., J.V., J.J.G.); andRahan Meristem, Ltd., Rosh Hanikra, Western Galilee, Israel 22825 (E.K.).
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhangjun
authors.affiliation: Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel 7510001 (T.E., E.Y., L.Q., H.F.);Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Robert W. Holley Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2901 (F.Z., J.V., J.J.G.); andRahan Meristem, Ltd., Rosh Hanikra, Western Galilee, Israel 22825 (E.K.).
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vrebalov
authors.affiliation: Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel 7510001 (T.E., E.Y., L.Q., H.F.);Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Robert W. Holley Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2901 (F.Z., J.V., J.J.G.); andRahan Meristem, Ltd., Rosh Hanikra, Western Galilee, Israel 22825 (E.K.).
authors.forename: Eli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Khayat
authors.affiliation: Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel 7510001 (T.E., E.Y., L.Q., H.F.);Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Robert W. Holley Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2901 (F.Z., J.V., J.J.G.); andRahan Meristem, Ltd., Rosh Hanikra, Western Galilee, Israel 22825 (E.K.).
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Giovannoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel 7510001 (T.E., E.Y., L.Q., H.F.);Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Robert W. Holley Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2901 (F.Z., J.V., J.J.G.); andRahan Meristem, Ltd., Rosh Hanikra, Western Galilee, Israel 22825 (E.K.) hayafr@agri.gov.il.
authors.forename: Haya
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1172-7822
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Friedman
mesh_terms: D005030:Ethylenes / Q000378:metabolism; D005523:Food Supply; D005638:Fruit / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D028521:Musa / Q000502:physiology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005030:Ethylenes; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C036216:ethylene