Articles
Chlorophyll breakdown in fruits: the relevance of the senescence-related pheophorbide a oxygenase/ phyllobilin (PaO/PB) pathway in ripe Gala apples (Malus × domestica)
Article number
1353_2
Pages
9 – 18
Language
English
Abstract
Chlorophyll plays a fundamental role in plants and fruits, and its disappearance is typically associated with senescence due to the autumnal leaf coloring.
Chlorophyll breakdown, however, is not limited to senescence: fruits change color during ripening and early leaf yellowing or chlorosis is a well-studied symptom of biotic and abiotic stress.
Recent work on apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) and other species has shown that chlorophyll is broken down to the same class of metabolites (phyllobilins), PBs, like the non-fluorescent chlorophyll catabolites, NCCs) via a common metabolic pathway mediated by pheophorbide a oxygenase (PaO) in all three cases: senescence, ripening and stress.
Physiological roles for PBs have been proposed based on their antioxidative properties, and health benefits have been deduced from pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory properties and inhibiting activities against cancer cells.
To gain a deeper understanding of the breakdown of chlorophyll in fruit species beyond the autumnal leaf yellowing, the abundance and diversity of PBs in ripe apples were investigated for the first time using ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography-high resolution quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) together with an inclusion list with 51 PBs.
Ten chlorophyll catabolites, including five NCCs, one YCC, and four DNCCs (including a previously unknown one) were described for the first time in apples fruits.
Chlorophyll breakdown, however, is not limited to senescence: fruits change color during ripening and early leaf yellowing or chlorosis is a well-studied symptom of biotic and abiotic stress.
Recent work on apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) and other species has shown that chlorophyll is broken down to the same class of metabolites (phyllobilins), PBs, like the non-fluorescent chlorophyll catabolites, NCCs) via a common metabolic pathway mediated by pheophorbide a oxygenase (PaO) in all three cases: senescence, ripening and stress.
Physiological roles for PBs have been proposed based on their antioxidative properties, and health benefits have been deduced from pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory properties and inhibiting activities against cancer cells.
To gain a deeper understanding of the breakdown of chlorophyll in fruit species beyond the autumnal leaf yellowing, the abundance and diversity of PBs in ripe apples were investigated for the first time using ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography-high resolution quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) together with an inclusion list with 51 PBs.
Ten chlorophyll catabolites, including five NCCs, one YCC, and four DNCCs (including a previously unknown one) were described for the first time in apples fruits.
Authors
L.M. Gorfer, L. Vestrucci, V. Grigoletto, V. Lazazzara, A. Zanella, P. Robatscher, M. Scampicchio, M. Oberhuber
Keywords
Malus × domestica, chlorophyll breakdown, tetrapyrrole, phyllobilins, mass spectrometry, structure elucidation
Groups involved
- Division Temperate Tree Fruits
- Division Temperate Tree Nuts
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
- Division Plant-Environment Interactions in Field Systems
- Division Horticulture for Human Health
- Division Postharvest and Quality Assurance
- Division Horticulture for Development
- Division Tropical and Subtropical Fruit and Nuts
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