Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

We have characterized a novel small heat shock protein gene, viscosity 1 (vis1) from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) and provide evidence that it plays a role in pectin depolymerization and juice viscosity in ripening fruits. Expression of vis1 is negatively associated with juice viscosity in diverse tomato genotypes. vis1 exhibits DNA polymorphism among tomato genotypes, and the alleles vis1-hta (high-transcript accumulator; accession no. AY128101) and vis1-lta (low transcript accumulator; accession no. AY128102) are associated with thinner and thicker juice, respectively. Segregation of tomato lines heterogeneous for vis1 alleles indicates that vis1 influences pectin depolymerization and juice viscosity in ripening fruits. vis1 is regulated by fruit ripening and high temperature and exhibits a typical heat shock protein chaperone function when expressed in bacterial cells. We propose that VIS1 contributes to physiochemical properties of juice, including pectin depolymerization, by reducing thermal denaturation of depolymerizing enzymes during daytime elevated temperatures.

Original publication

DOI

10.1104/pp.012401

Type

Journal article

Journal

Plant Physiol

Publication Date

02/2003

Volume

131

Pages

725 - 735

Keywords

Acclimatization, Alleles, Amino Acid Sequence, Bacterial Proteins, DNA, Plant, Escherichia coli, Fruit, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Gene Expression Regulation, Plant, Heat-Shock Proteins, Hot Temperature, Lycopersicon esculentum, Molecular Sequence Data, Multigene Family, Pectins, Phenotype, Phylogeny, Plant Proteins, Polygalacturonase, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Protein Denaturation, Recombinant Proteins, Sequence Homology, Amino Acid, Viscosity