Pear ACO genes encoding putative 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase homologs are functionally expressed during fruit ripening and involved in response to salicylic acid.

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) oxidase catalyzes the final reaction of the ethylene biosynthetic pathway, converting ACC into ethylene. Past studies have shown a possible link between ACC oxidase and salicylic acid during fruit ripening in pear, but the relationship has received no more than modest study at the gene expression level. In this study, two cDNA clones encoding putative ACC oxidase, PpACO1 and PpACO2, were isolated from a cDNA library constructed by our own laboratory and produced using mRNA from mesocarp of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai. cv.Whangkeumbae). One cDNA clone, designated PpACO1 (GenBank accession No. JN807390), comprised an open reading frame of 945 bp encoding a protein of 314 amino acids. The other cDNA, designated PpACO2 (GenBank accession No. JN807392), encodes a protein with 322 amino acids that shares high similarity with the known plant ACOs. Using PCR amplification techniques, two genomic clones corresponding to PpACO1 and PpACO2 were isolated and shown to contain independently three introns with typical GT/AG boundaries defining the splice junctions. The PpACO1 gene product shared 99 % identity with an ACC oxidase from pear (Pyrus × bretschneideri Rehd.cv.Yali), and phylogenetic analyses clearly placed the gene product in the ACC oxidase cluster of the pear 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase superfamily tree. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis indicated that the two PpACO genes are differentially expressed in pear tissues. PpACO1 and PpACO2 were predominantly expressed in fruit. The transcripts of PpACO1 were accumulated at relatively low levels in early fruit, but strongly high levels in fruit ripening and senescence stages, while the transcripts of PpACO2 were accumulated at higher levels in early fruit and much lower levels with further fruit cell development than the transcripts of PpACO1. In addition, PpACO1 gene was down-regulated in fruit by salicylic acid (SA). Nevertheless, PpACO2 gene was dramatically up-regulated in fruit by SA. These results suggested that the PpACOs may participate in regulation of fruit ripening and in response to SA in pear.