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The sweet cultivars of Cucumis melo are characterized by high sucrose levels, together with low acid levels in the mature fruit flesh. The trait of high sugar accumulation in C. melo fruit is determined by a single recessive gene, suc. High acid content, conferred by a single dominant gene, So, is found only in C. melo varieties that do not accumulate high levels of sugar and are used for nondessert purposes. We combined the genetic traits of high acid content (low pH) and high sugar levels by crossing the nonsweet, high acid C. melo var. flexuosus, `Faqqous' (So/So, Suc/Suc), with high sugar, low acid C. melo genotypes (so/so, suc/suc) and generating the recombinant genotype So/—, suc/suc. Segregating F2 populations derived from the cross between `Faqqous' and a standard high sugar, low acid line showed that the traits of high sugar and low pH were inherited independently of each other. The accumulation of acid and sugar in the developing fruit of a recombinant high acid, high sugar breeding line, A6, were also temporally independent, with acid accumulation preceding the rise in sucrose levels. The low pH of A6 was correlated with the developmental increase in titratable acidity and particularly of citric acid levels. The combination of increased acidity and high sugar provides the melons with a unique taste due to a sugar to acid ratio not present in sweet C. melo cultivars. These results are discussed in terms of the evolution under domestication of C. melo.
Soluble sugar accumulation is a major determinant of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit quality. One strategy of increasing sugar levels in the mature fruit is via the increase of the transient starch pool in the immature fruit, which is subsequently degraded to contribute to its soluble sugar levels. ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase [AGPase (E.C. 2.7.7.27)] is a limiting enzyme in starch synthesis and we therefore developed introgression lines of cultivated tomato harboring the wild species (Solanum habrochaites) allele for the regulatory large subunit (L1H ) of this heterotetrameric enzyme. Comparison of numerous near-isogenic lines of tomato segregating for the L1 allele, during multiple seasons, showed that the wild species allele led to an increase in fruit total soluble solids concentration (TSS) without a concomitant decrease in fruit size. Rather, in practically all lines studied, fruit size increased together with TSS, leading to an even larger increase in TSS × yield. A comparative developmental study of fruit carbohydrates, starch, and sugars between genotypes showed that the wild species allele led to increases in fruit size, carbohydrate concentration, and carbohydrate content of the whole fruit unit. This was related to a large increase in the transient starch reservoir that, upon degradation, accounted for the subsequent increase in soluble sugars. These results are evidence that modifying fruit sink carbohydrate metabolism via a single rate-limiting enzymatic step can increase the net import of photoassimilate into the fruit.
The carbohydrate economy of developing tomato fruit is determined by wholeplant source–sink relationships. However, the fate of the imported photoassimilate partitioned to the fruit sink is controlled by the carbohydrate metabolism of the fruit tissue. Within the Lycopersicon spp. there exists a broad range of genetic variability for fruit carbohydrate metabolism, such as sucrose accumulation and modified ratios of fructose to glucose in the mature fruit and increased starch synthesis in the immature fruit. Metabolic pathways of carbohydrate metabolism in tomatoes, as well as natural genetic variation in the metabolic pathways, will be described. The impact of sink carbohydrate metabolism on fruit non-structural carbohydrate economy will be discussed.