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Life on the vine

Nature Biotechnology volume 20, pages 558–560 (2002)Cite this article

Tomato plants engineered with increased levels of polyamines show delayed ripening and increased levels of the antioxidant lycopene.

The saying that “the ripest fruit falls first” may no longer be true. In this issue, Mattoo and colleagues1 have used a transgenic approach to modify polyamines in tomato fruit and have demonstrated a clear effect on the ripening process. The transgenic fruit have longer vine lives, suggesting that polyamines do indeed have a function in delaying the ripening process. Moreover, the fruit have increased levels of the antioxidant lycopene.

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Figure 1: Outline of the metabolic pathways in fruit leading to the production of polyamines (blue) or ethylene (green).

© Bob Crimi

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. professor of plant biochemistry, University of Nottingham, School of Biosciences, Loughborough, United Kingdom

    Greg Tucker

  2. research leader, Horticulture Research International, Wellesbourne, Warwick, United Kingdom

    Graham Seymour

Authors
  1. Greg Tucker
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  2. Graham Seymour
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Tucker, G., Seymour, G. Life on the vine. Nat Biotechnol 20, 558–560 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0602-558

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0602-558

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