INVESTIGADORES
BUSTAMANTE Claudia Anabel
artículos
Título:
Cloning, functional characterization and co-expression studies of a novel aquaporin (FaPIP2;1) of strawberry fruit
Autor/es:
ALLEVA K., MARQUEZ M., VILLARREAL N., MUT P., BUSTAMANTE C., BELLATI J., MARTÍNEZ G., CIVELLO M. AMODEO G.
Revista:
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
Editorial:
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
Referencias:
Lugar: Lancaster; Año: 2010 vol. 61 p. 3935 - 3945
ISSN:
0022-0957
Resumen:
In strawberry, the putative participation of aquaporins should be considered during fruit ripening. Furthermore, the
availability of different firmness cultivars in this non-climacteric fruit is a very useful tool to determine their
involvement in softening. In a previous work, the cloning of a strawberry fruit-specific aquaporin, FaPIP1;1, which
showed an expression profile associated with fruit ripening was reported. Here, FaPIP2;1, an aquaporin subtype of
PIP2 was cloned and its functional characterization in Xenopus oocytes determined. The FaPIP2;1 gene encodes
a water channel with high water permeability (Pf) that is regulated by cytosolic pH. Interestingly, the co-expression
of both FaPIP subtypes resulted in an enhancement of water permeability, showing Pf values that exceeds their
individual contribution. The expression pattern of both aquaporin subtypes in two cultivars with contrasting fruit
firmness showed that the firmer cultivar (Camarosa) has a higher accumulation of FaPIP1 and FaPIP2 mRNAs during
fruit ripening when compared with the softer cultivar (Toyonoka). In conclusion, not only FaPIP aquaporins showed
an expression pattern associated with fruit firmness but it was also shown that the enhancement of water transfer
through the plasma membrane is coupled to the presence/absence of the co-expression of both subtypes.