Respiration and protein synthesis in nongrowing cultured pear fruit cells in response to ethylene and modified atmospheres: a model system for fruits postharvest.

The respiration of pear fruit (Pyrus communis L. Passe Crassane) cells was monitored after subculture into an auxin-free, mannitol-enriched medium in which the cells remained viable but did not grow. Respiration rates were affected by the presence or absence of sucrose in the medium even though the cells retained reserves of sucrose and starch. Provided the medium contained respirable carbohydrate, exposure to ethylene (1-10 microliters per liter) increased the respiration rate with some acceleration of cell death. In the range from 10 to 2% oxygen by volume, the respiration rate of the cells decreased with oxygen concentration resulting in some prolongation of cell life. Thus, in their responses to ethylene and modified atmospheres, the cells reflected the behavior of harvested fruits. Having defined conditions under which respiration rate could be varied without apparent influence on the quiescent state of the cells, we sought a connection between maintenance respiration and protein turnover. Relative rates of protein synthesis were assessed by measuring ribosome distribution between monosomes and polysomes. In general, the higher the respiration rate the higher the proportion of polysomes supporting the thesis that protein turnover is a variable component of maintenance metabolism. Protein turnover in cells incubated in the presence or absence of sucrose was measured as retained alpha-amino-(3)H following a pulse of (3)H(2)O. Turnover was shown to be a quantitatively important component of the maintenance budget and to be more rapid in cells in media supplemented with sucrose through the chase period. The experiments illustrate that cultured cells may be used to explore aspects of the maintenance metabolism of resting or senescent cells that are not amenable to study in bulky fruit tissues.