Banana quality : Physico-chemical characterization, and transcriptome and proteome analysis of fruit during ripening

The quality of a fruit like banana results from numerous modifications which take place during ripening. Among these are the biosynthesis of the hormone ethylene (Liu and al., on 1999), the degradation of starch, and the biosynthesis of free sugars (Beaudry et al., 1989; Hubbard et al., 1990; Cordenunsi and Lajolo, 1995; Do Nascimento et al., 2000; Purgatto et al., 2001). These metabolic pathways were studied at the biochemical and molecular level. However, neither their putative regulation at the gene level by ethylene, nor the relations between the synthesis of starch, its degradation and the appearance of free sugars, have been well established yet. The objectives of this study are: - to understand events of ripening like the biosynthesis of ethylene and soluble sugars, - to characterise the quality of four potential parents, at the physico-chemical, biochemical and molecular levels. (Résumé d'auteur