Effects of auxin and jasmonates on 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase and ACC oxidase gene expression during ripening of apple fruit

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase and oxidase activities, their gene expression, and ethylene production in apple fruit [Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. Var. domestica (Borkh.) Mansf.] treated with a synthetic auxin 2,4-dichlorophenoxy-propionic acid (2,4-DP) and n-propyl dihydrojasmonate (PDJ), a jasmonic acid derivative, has been investigated to clarify the action of auxin and jasmonates on ethylene production. The fruit was harvested at 103 d after full bloom (preclimacteric). The expression of MdACS4 messenger RNA (mRNA) at 48 and 96 h after treatment was higher in fruit treated with 2,4-DP than in the untreated control, but those of MdACS1 and MdACO1 were not affected by treatment. The ethylene production in 2,4-DP-treated fruit increased at 96 h after treatment. In contrast, expression of mRNAs hybridized with MdACS1 and MdACO1 probes in the skin of PDJ-treated fruit were higher than those in the untreated control. In addition, ACC synthase activity and ethylene production also increased after treatment. These results show that the ethylene production rate may differ with the kind of genes which were stimulated by auxin or jasmonates.