Batista-Silva Willian, Nascimento Vitor L, Medeiros David B, Nunes-Nesi Adriano, Ribeiro Dimas M, Zsögön Agustín, Araújo Wagner L
Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil.
Max-Planck Partner Group at the Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil.
Front Plant Sci. 2018 Nov 20;9:1689. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.01689. eCollection 2018.
The pivotal role of phytohormones during fruit development and ripening is considered established knowledge in plant biology. Perhaps less well-known is the growing body of evidence suggesting that organic acids play a key function in plant development and, in particular, in fruit development, maturation and ripening. Here, we critically review the connection between organic acids and the development of both climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. By analyzing the metabolic content of different fruits during their ontogenetic trajectory, we noticed that the content of organic acids in the early stages of fruit development is directly related to the supply of substrates for respiratory processes. Although different organic acid species can be found during fruit development in general, it appears that citrate and malate play major roles in this process, as they accumulate on a broad range of climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. We further highlight the functional significance of changes in organic acid profile in fruits due to either the manipulation of fruit-specific genes or the use of fruit-specific promoters. Despite the complexity behind the fluctuation in organic acid content during fruit development and ripening, we extend our understanding on the importance of organic acids on fruit metabolism and the need to further boost future research. We suggest that engineering organic acid metabolism could improve both qualitative and quantitative traits of crop fruits.
植物激素在果实发育和成熟过程中的关键作用在植物生物学领域被视为既定知识。或许鲜为人知的是，越来越多的证据表明有机酸在植物发育中，尤其是在果实发育、成熟和衰老过程中发挥着关键作用。在此，我们批判性地综述了有机酸与跃变型和非跃变型果实发育之间的联系。通过分析不同果实发育过程中的代谢成分，我们注意到果实发育早期有机酸的含量与呼吸过程底物的供应直接相关。虽然在果实发育过程中通常可以发现不同种类的有机酸，但柠檬酸和苹果酸似乎在这一过程中起主要作用，因为它们在多种跃变型和非跃变型果实中积累。我们进一步强调了由于操纵果实特异性基因或使用果实特异性启动子导致果实有机酸谱变化的功能意义。尽管果实发育和成熟过程中有机酸含量波动背后存在复杂性，但我们加深了对有机酸在果实代谢中的重要性的理解，以及进一步推动未来研究的必要性。我们认为，对有机酸代谢进行工程改造可以改善作物果实的品质和产量性状。
