= P. W. Oeller
{c}
<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.<Reversible inhibition of tomato fruit senescence by antisense RNA by P. W. Oeller and others>[Science 254, pp. 437–439; primary byline and abstract]{ref}
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>.<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]{ref}
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