TRANSCRIPTOMICS AND PROTEOMICS TOOLS TOWARDS RIPENING MARKERS FOR ASSISTED SELECTION IN APRICOT

The many physicochemical changes that accompany apricot ripening (Prunus armenica) determine its organoleptic properties: increase of sugar/acid ratio, colour change, loss of firmness and synthesis of flavour compounds.
These ripening related events also segregate in different cultivars.
For a better knowledge of fruit ripening and to provide genomic tools for molecular breeding in apricot, we developed a systematic sequencing strategy mainly from 3′ end of cDNAs.
About 15000 EST were generated from three zap cDNA libraries of apricots at three critical developmental stages (immature, half-ripe and ripe stages), yielding 5212 (35%) Unigenes.
The Unigene set was then compared with public databases to provide assignment to functional categories.
Three quarters (76%) of the Unigenes displayed homologies with public sequences, including 53% of known function proteins.
Most expressed categories were related to primary metabolism and stress response.
Electronic Northern Blot revealed strong activation of stress-related proteins and cell wall modifying enzymes during ripening.
Among the 1255 isoenzymes detected (amino-acid level similarity) in the Unigene set, 615 (49%) displayed significant homologies in their coding regions (nucleic acid level similarity). A proteomic approach was performed throughout apricot development to validate the electronic northern blots at a post-translational level and to find new ripening markers.

XI Eucarpia Symposium on Fruit Breeding and Genetics

J. Grimplet, C. Romieu, F.X. Sauvage, P. Lambert, J.M. Audergon, N. Terrier

Prunus armeniaca, EST, Isogenes

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.663.47