Molecular Regulation of Fruit Ripening in Climacteric and Non-Climacteric Fruits

Dear Colleagues,

The regulation of fruit ripening has always been considered a hot topic in plant biology, mainly for its implications in many aspects of fruit production, storability, and marketability. Relying on model plant species, such as tomato and strawberry, to understand the molecular regulation of ripening in climacteric and non-climacteric fruits, respectively, has resulted in many useful applications, not only in these two species, but also in other non-model species that relate to one of these two major groups. Furthermore, the availability of forward and reverse genetic tools and resources in other non-fruit model species, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, has also contributed to our deep understanding of the effects of genes, proteins and enzymes in hormone pathways that associate directly with the ripening process, in particular, ethylene biosynthesis and signaling pathway. The last 10 years have also witnessed the release of whole genome sequences for many economically important fruit species (e.g., apple, peach, grape) to the public domain, which along with the availability of bioinformatics tools has resulted in many comparative studies and indeed introduced a plenty of new molecular elements to the scene. Adding to this, the recent advances in the omics field (e.g., transcriptomics and metabolomics) and their accessibility to many researchers and institutes worldwide has widen our scope of gene networks, small molecules and secondary metabolites, that mediate fruit development and ripening in different species. The purpose of this Special Issue is to introduce, as much as possible, a comprehensive view of the major molecular elements that mediate the ripening process in climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. Studies based on hormone profiling, gene expression analyses, comparative omics, mutant analysis, marker discovery and functional genomics are particularly encouraged to participate in the issue. In addition, review articles that provide concise and critical review of available literature in this topic will also be considered.

Prof. Sherif M. Sherif
Guest Editor

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