Improvement of post-harvest fruit characteristics in tomato by fruit-specific over-expression of oat arginine decarboxylase gene

Over-ripening is the key contributor to post-harvest loss of perishable fruits and is also one of the greatest threats to the growers. Delayed ripening of tomato fruits has been suggested as a possible solution to such post-harvest losses. To overcome post-harvest losses, we engineered tomato fruits to accumulate polyamines (PAs) by over-expression of arginine decarboxylase (ADC) gene of PA biosynthetic pathway. The AsADC transgenic fruits contained elevated levels of putrescine, spermidine and spermine content in comparison to the fruits from untransformed plants. In addition, the expression of several ripening-associated genes was also altered. The transgenic fruits displayed a better shelf-life due to decrease in ethylene levels and respiratory activity. The transgenic tomatoes also exhibited improved key processing features along with the elevated levels of lycopene and vitaminC. Our study highlights that the fortification of PAs is a promising approach for the improvement of post-harvest fruit characteristics together with a high quality of produce.