植物学国际顶级刊物Plant Physiology（IF=6.982 2009年度影响因子十大看点）7月1日最新一期发表了浙江大学果实品质生物学研究团队2010届博士生殷学仁题为《猕猴桃AdEIL和AdERF基因参与调控果实成熟相关基因表达》的论文。
乙烯是重要植物激素，参与植物整个生命进程，也是影响果实成熟衰老最重要的植物激素之一。乙烯生物学研究包括乙烯生物合成和乙烯信号转导两大主题，长期以来植物学界存在一科学猜想――乙烯信号转导能否反馈调控乙烯生物合成。
提示：生物谷启用新域名 www.bioon.net
该论文从猕猴桃果实乙烯信号转导途径两个转录因子基因家族（EIN3/EIL和ERF）入手，发现猕猴桃果实AdEIL2和AdEIL3可活化乙烯合成关键基因AdACO1启动子，进而调控乙烯合成相关基因转录，并加速植株乙烯合成，首次系统的阐述了EIN3/EILs可作为乙烯信号转导反馈调控乙烯生物合成的关键位点，该研究结果为果实乙烯生物合成调控提供了新的理论依据。
生物谷推荐原文出处：
Plant Physiology DOI:10.1104/pp.110.157081
Kiwifruit EIL and ERF genes involved in regulating fruit ripening
Xue-ren Yin1, Andrew C. Allan2, Kun-song Chen1,3 and Ian B. Ferguson2
1 Zhejiang University; , 2 New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited
Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) is a climacteric fruit sensitive to low concentrations of ethylene. To investigate the transcriptional mechanisms underlying kiwifruit ethylene response, transcription factors encoding four EIN3-Like (EILs) and fourteen ethylene response factors (ERFs) were cloned from kiwifruit. Expression of these transcription factors was examined during fruit development. The expression of transcripts of most AdERFs was higher during early fruit development, with the exception of AdERF3 which increased with maturity. Several AdERFs were apparently downregulated by ethylene as they were affected by the ethylene inhibitor 1-methylcyclopropene and by antisense suppression of ACO in the fruit. In contrast, AdEILs were constitutively expressed during fruit development and ripening. The transcription factors AdEIL2 and AdEIL3 activated transcription of the ripening-related genes AdACO1 and AdXET5 and, when over-expressed in Arabidopsis, stimulated ethylene production. The potential repressor AdERF9 suppressed this promoter activity. These results support a role for kiwifruit EILs and ERFs in transcriptional regulation of ripening related genes and in the regulation of kiwifruit fruit ripening processes.
