title: Non-invasive quantification of ethylene in attached fruit headspace at 1 p.p.b. by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
abstract: Ethylene is a gaseous plant hormone involved in defense, adaptations to environmental stress and fruit ripening. Its relevance to the latter makes its detection highly useful for physiologists interested in the onset of ripening. Produced as a sharp peak during the respiratory burst, ethylene is biologically active at tens of nl L-1. Reliable quantification at such concentrations generally requires specialized instrumentation. Here we present a rapid, high-sensitivity method for detecting ethylene in attached fruit using a conventional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) system and in situ headspace collection chambers. We apply this method to melon (Cucumis melo L.), a unique species consisting of climacteric and non-climacteric varieties, with a high variation in the climacteric phenotype among climacteric types. Using a population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from highly climacteric ('Védrantais', cantalupensis type) and non-climacteric ('Piel de Sapo', inodorus type) parental lines, we observed a significant variation for the intensity, onset and duration of the ethylene burst during fruit ripening. Our method does not require concentration, sampling times over 1 h or fruit harvest. We achieved a limit of detection of 0.41 ± 0.04 nl L-1and a limit of quantification of 1.37 ± 0.13 nl L-1with an analysis time per sample of 2.6 min. Validation of the analytical method indicated that linearity (>98%), precision (coefficient of variation ≤2%) and sensitivity compared favorably with dedicated optical sensors. This study adds to evidence of the characteristic climacteric ethylene burst as a complex trait whose intensity in our RIL population lies along a continuum in addition to two extremes.
authors.affiliation: IRTA, Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (IRTA- CSIC- UAB-UB), Edifici CRAG, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: IRTA, Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (IRTA- CSIC- UAB-UB), Edifici CRAG, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pujol
authors.affiliation: IRTA, Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (IRTA- CSIC- UAB-UB), Edifici CRAG, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garcia-Mas
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Toronto-Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Phillips
mesh_terms: D028463:Cucumis melo / Q000378:metabolism; D005030:Ethylenes / Q000032:analysis*; D005638:Fruit / Q000378:metabolism*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
chemical_list: D005030:Ethylenes; C036216:ethylene
keywords: climacteric fruit ripening; ethylene biosynthesis; headspace analysis; melon (Cucumis melo); phytohormone analysis; technical advance; volatile analysis