Heat tolerance and the regulation of climacteric fruit ripening.

Tomato is a worldwide economic valuable and healthy crop with good nutritional properties.  Over the years tomato has been used as a model plant to study fundamental principles of development and climacteric ripening of fleshy fruit. Ethylene is well recognised as the main regulatory hormone in ripening; together with various transcription factors, it regulates fruit ripening. The objectives of this project are to understand the underlying regulation of climacteric ripening of heat tolerant/sensitive tomato at the level of ethylene perception and signalling and to model the ethylene biosynthesis and signalling pathway during climacteric ripening of tomato fruit. In order to reach these objectives a systems biology approach will be used to quantify the regulation of climacteric ripening of heat tolerant/sensitive tomato at the level of ethylene perception and signalling.

The project outcome will cause a breakthrough in the fundamental understanding of ethylene biosynthesis and fruit ripening of heat tolerant and heat sensitive tomato which will serve as a basis to improve postharvest quality of these tomato cultivars. The results on tomato obtained in this project are expected to be transferable to other important fruit species.