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Joined 2026-09-21 Message
Incoming links: P. W. Oeller
P. W. Oeller 2026-11-05
P. W. Oeller investigated molecular control of plant development, including the role of Ethylene in fruit ripening. A 1991 study with colleagues used Antisense RNA to reduce production of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, an enzyme in Ethylene biosynthesis, in tomato plants.[ref]
Reversible inhibition of tomato fruit senescence by antisense RNA by P. W. Oeller and others. Science 254, pp. 437–439; primary byline and abstract
The modified tomatoes showed inhibited ripening, and supplying Ethylene externally reversed the inhibition. This paired intervention and rescue connected a molecular perturbation to a developmental process: reducing the signal delayed the process, while restoring the signal restored it. The result supplied causal evidence for Ethylene control in this experimental system, beyond a correlation between rising Ethylene and maturing fruit.[ref]
Reversible inhibition of tomato fruit senescence by antisense RNA by P. W. Oeller and others. Abstract; antisense inhibition and rescue by exogenous ethylene or propylene
Reversible inhibition of tomato fruit senescence by antisense RNA by P. W. Oeller and others 2026-11-05
By P. W. Oeller and colleagues. Science 254(5030), 437–439 (18 October 1991); DOI doi.org/10.1126/science.1925603
Ripening 2026-11-05
Ripening is the coordinated set of developmental changes that brings a fruit toward its mature dispersal or eating state. Depending on the fruit, these changes can include altered pigmentation, softening, changes in sugars and acids, and the production of volatile compounds. They need not all occur at the same rate, so colour alone is an incomplete measure of ripening.
A particularly clear experiment established a role for Ethylene in tomato ripening. In 1991, P. W. Oeller and colleagues expressed Antisense RNA directed against 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, an enzyme required for Ethylene production. Ripening was inhibited. Supplying Ethylene from outside the plant reversed that inhibition.[ref]
Reversible inhibition of tomato fruit senescence by antisense RNA by P. W. Oeller and others. Science 254, pp. 437–439; abstract, antisense inhibition and rescue by supplied ethylene
The intervention and rescue distinguish a regulating signal from a substance that merely accumulates while ripening happens. Suppressing production delays the process, while restoring the signal restores it. This establishes a causal role for Ethylene in that tomato system; the precise control of ripening must still be investigated for other fruits.