Plant Rabs and the role in fruit ripening

Chiew Foan Chin,Grantley W. Lycett,Tamunonengiyeofori Lawson,Sean Mayes

doi:10.1080/02648725.2018.1482092

Abstract

ABSTRACTFruit ripening is a complex developmental process that involves the synthesis and modification of the cell wall leading up to the formation of an edible fruit. During the period of fruit ripening, new cell wall polymers and enzymes are synthesized and trafficked to the apoplast. Vesicle trafficking has been shown to play a key role in facilitating the synthesis and modification of cell walls in fruits. Through reverse genetics and gene expression studies, the importance of Rab guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) as integral regulators of vesicle trafficking to the cell wall has been revealed. It has been a decade since a rich literature on the involvement of Rab GTPase in ripening was published. Therefore, this review sets out to summarize the progress in studies on the pivotal roles of Rab GTPases in fruit development and sheds light on new approaches that could be adopted in the fields of postharvest biology and fruit-ripening research.

Highlights

Fruit ripening entails the physicochemical and physiological changes that give rise to an edible fruit
Similar studies elucidating the roles of pectinmethylesterase (PME; enzyme commission number (EC) 3.1.1.11) and cellulose (EC 3.2.1.4) (Brummell, Hall, & Bennett, 1999; Hall et al, 1993) have revealed the complexity of the fruit ripening process
A wealth of information is available for the Rab guanosine triphosphatases (GTPase), which are a large family of the small guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding proteins displaying functional diversity in plants

Summary

Introduction

Fruit ripening entails the physicochemical and physiological changes that give rise to an edible fruit During this process, changes in the cell wall structure and composition occurs (Brummell, 2006). Similar studies elucidating the roles of pectinmethylesterase (PME; EC 3.1.1.11) and cellulose (EC 3.2.1.4) (Brummell, Hall, & Bennett, 1999; Hall et al, 1993) have revealed the complexity of the fruit ripening process. These studies indicate that there may be interdependency among multiple enzymes that lead to fruit softening, as might be expected.

Rab GTPases as molecular switches in membrane trafficking

The Rab family in plants

Rab GTPase proteins as directors of vesicle trafficking

The involvement of Rab GTPases in fruit ripening

Conclusion

Findings

List of figure captions and notes