Cocetta Giacomo, Natalini Alessandro
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics - Research Centre for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops, Monsampolo del Tronto, Italy.
Front Plant Sci. 2022 Nov 14;13:968315. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.968315. eCollection 2022.
Ethylene is a two-carbon gaseous plant growth regulator that involved in several important physiological events, including growth, development, ripening and senescence of fruits, vegetables, and ornamental crops. The hormone accelerates ripening of ethylene sensitive fruits, leafy greens and vegetables at micromolar concentrations, and its accumulation can led to fruit decay and waste during the postharvest stage. Several strategies of crops management and techniques of plant breeding have been attempted in the last decades to understand ethylene regulation pathways and ethylene-dependent biochemical and physiological processes, with the final aim to extend the produce shelf-life and improve the postharvest quality of fruits and vegetables. These investigation approaches involve the use of conventional and new breeding techniques, including precise genome-editing. This review paper aims to provide a relevant overview on the state of the art related to the use of modern breeding techniques focused on ethylene and ethylene-related metabolism, as well as on the possible postharvest technological applications for the postharvest management of ethylene-sensitive crops. An updated view and perspective on the implications of new breeding and management strategies to maintain the quality and the marketability of different crops during postharvest are given, with particular focus on: postharvest physiology (ethylene dependent) for mature and immature fruits and vegetables; postharvest quality management of vegetables: fresh and fresh cut products, focusing on the most important ethylene-dependent biochemical pathways; evolution of breeding technologies for facing old and new challenges in postharvest quality of vegetable crops: from conventional breeding and marker assisted selection to new breeding technologies focusing on transgenesis and gene editing. Examples of applied breeding techniques for model plants (tomato, zucchini and brocccoli) are given to elucidate ethylene metabolism, as well as beneficial and detrimental ethylene effects.
乙烯是一种双碳气态植物生长调节剂，参与多种重要的生理过程，包括水果、蔬菜和观赏作物的生长、发育、成熟和衰老。该激素在微摩尔浓度下可加速对乙烯敏感的水果、叶菜类蔬菜的成熟，其积累会导致采后阶段水果腐烂和浪费。在过去几十年中，人们尝试了多种作物管理策略和植物育种技术，以了解乙烯调控途径以及乙烯依赖的生化和生理过程，最终目的是延长农产品货架期并提高水果和蔬菜的采后品质。这些研究方法包括使用传统育种技术和新育种技术，包括精确的基因组编辑。本文旨在对聚焦乙烯及乙烯相关代谢的现代育种技术的现状，以及对乙烯敏感作物采后管理可能的采后技术应用进行相关综述。文中给出了关于新育种和管理策略对维持不同作物采后品质和市场适销性影响的最新观点和视角，特别关注：成熟和未成熟水果及蔬菜的采后生理学（乙烯依赖型）；蔬菜的采后质量管理：新鲜和鲜切产品，重点关注最重要的乙烯依赖型生化途径；面对蔬菜作物采后品质新老挑战的育种技术演变：从传统育种和标记辅助选择到聚焦转基因和基因编辑的新育种技术。文中给出了模式植物（番茄、西葫芦和西兰花）应用育种技术的实例，以阐明乙烯代谢以及乙烯的有益和有害作用。
