Is Autophagy Involved in Pepper Fruit Ripening?
Open Access
- 1 January 2020
- Vol. 9 (1), 106
- https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9010106
Abstract
Autophagy is a universal self-degradation process involved in the removal and recycling of cellular constituents and organelles; however, little is known about its possible role in fruit ripening, in which the oxidation of lipids and proteins and changes in the metabolism of different cellular organelles occur. In this work, we analyzed several markers of autophagy in two critical maturation stages of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fruits where variations due to ripening become clearly visible. Using two commercial varieties that ripen to yellow and red fruits respectively, we studied changes in the gene expression and protein content of several autophagy (ATG) components, ATG4 activity, as well as the autophagy receptor NBR1 and the proteases LON1 and LON2. Additionally, the presence of intravacuolar vesicles was analyzed by electron microscopy. Altogether, our data reveal that autophagy plays a role in the metabolic changes which occur during ripening in the two studied varieties, suggesting that this process may be critical to acquiring final optimal quality of pepper fruits.Funding Information
- European Cooperation in Science and Technology (CA15138)
This publication has 63 references indexed in Scilit:
- Antioxidant Systems from Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.): Involvement in the Response to Temperature Changes in Ripe FruitsInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2013
- NBR1-Mediated Selective Autophagy Targets Insoluble Ubiquitinated Protein Aggregates in Plant Stress ResponsesPLoS Genetics, 2013
- A Population Genetic Model for the Maintenance of R2 Retrotransposons in rRNA Gene LociPLoS Genetics, 2013
- Rapid phosphatidic acid accumulation in response to low temperature stress in Arabidopsis is generated through diacylglycerol kinaseFrontiers in Plant Science, 2013
- Dissecting the integrative antioxidant and redox systems in plant mitochondria. Effect of stress and S-nitrosylationFrontiers in Plant Science, 2013
- Loss of Lon1 in Arabidopsis Changes the Mitochondrial Proteome Leading to Altered Metabolite Profiles and Growth Retardation without an Accumulation of Oxidative DamagePlant Physiology, 2012
- Physiological and proteomic approaches to address the active role of ozone in kiwifruit post-harvest ripeningJournal of Experimental Botany, 2012
- The ATG Autophagic Conjugation System in Maize: ATG Transcripts and Abundance of the ATG8-Lipid Adduct Are Regulated by Development and Nutrient AvailabilityPlant Physiology, 2008
- Reactive oxygen species are essential for autophagy and specifically regulate the activity of Atg4The EMBO Journal, 2007
- A new mathematical model for relative quantification in real-time RT-PCRNucleic Acids Research, 2001