Cloning of phytoene desaturase gene in mango (Mangifera indica L. cv. Irwin) and its expression at different stages of fruit development.
Lee WenLi, Chiou KuoDung, Lin RongQuey, Chen FureChyi
Author Affiliation: Feng-Shan Tropical Horticultural Experiment Branch, ARI, Feng-Shan, Taiwan.
Journal of Taiwan Agricultural Research 57 : 213-229
Abstract : Mango (Mangifera indica) is a tropical fruit containing carotenoids. In order to understand the expression of phytoene desaturase (PDS), a key enzyme for the biosynthesis of ?-carotene, during fruit development, we have cloned and characterized a cDNA encoding PDS from young mango fruits, cv. Irwin. Mango PDS cDNA contains 1,882 bp, with 1,644 bp open reading frame encoding for a polypeptide of 548 amino acid residues. The 5? and 3? untranslated regions (UTR) were 36 bp and 202 bp, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence of this PDS has 50.0-74.1% of similarity to PDS from other plant species. The relative expression levels and carotenoids content of the Irwin mango PDS at the six fruit development stages and in mature leaves were detected. The result showed that the expression level of PDS gene at different fruit development stages was reduced and the carotenoids increased rapidly, when fruit are maturing. These findings suggest that mango PDS is down regulated during the fruit ripening process.