Science / Medicine : Gene Has Key Role in Ripening

California researchers have isolated a gene that plays a key role in the ripening process of fruits and vegetables. The discovery could lead to new ways to reduce spoilage of the crops, and thus to get fresher produce to customers. In the United States, almost 50% of fruits and vegetables are eventually lost as a result of spoilage caused by premature ripening, according to the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Researchers have long known that ripening is caused by the release of the gas ethylene. Biologists can speed ripening by exposing produce to the gas, but they as yet have no way to block ripening.

Molecular biologists Athanasios Theologis and Takahide Sato of the Agriculture Department’s research laboratory in Albany, Calif., report in the September Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they isolated a key gene that is necessary for the synthesis of ethylene, then inserted it into bacteria and yeast. The microorganisms, which do not normally produce ethylene, were then capable of doing so.

The discovery could also be used, Theologis said, for large-scale production of ethylene, which is a raw material in the manufacture of plastics, antifreeze and synthetic fibers.