Peach (Prunus persica) endopolygalacturonase cDNA isolation and mRNA analysis in melting and nonmelting peach cultivars.

Two distinct partial cDNAs, PRF1 and PRF3, similar in sequence to previously described polygalacturonases, were amplified from ripe peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch cv Flavorcrest) fruit cDNA by the polymerase chain reaction. PRF1-related RNA was present in fruit from early ripening at levels not detected by northern analysis. PRF3-related RNA was readily detectable in ripe fruit by northern analysis. PRF3 was used to isolate a cDNA with a complete open reading frame, PRF5, from a lambda ZAP II cDNA library prepared from poly(A)+ RNA of ripe peach fruit. PRF5 coded for a predicted protein of 393 amino acids with a molecular mass of 41,500 D. The derived amino acid sequence of PRF5 included a putative leader sequence of 23 amino acids, followed by a sequence that matched the N terminus of endopolygalacturonase protein purified from ripe peach fruit. By northern analysis, PRF3-related RNA was undetectable in firm, unripe Flavorcrest fruit. It appeared at low levels as a 1.7-kb transcript in fruit that had begun to ripen and soften and was very abundant in ripe fruit that had undergone the "melting" stage of softening. The marked increase in PRF3-related RNA levels took place over a period of less than 2 d at 20 degrees C and coincided with the climacteric peak in ethylene evolution. Levels of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase-related RNA increased during ripening at a much earlier stage than levels of PRF3-related RNA. Lower levels of 1.7-kb RNA transcript were detected by PRF3 in ripe fruit of the melting cultivar Fragar, which are firmer than Flavorcrest fruit. In ripe fruit of the nonmelting cultivar Carolyn, PRF3 detected a 1.45-kb RNA transcript that was present at low levels. Transcripts of a peach polygalacturonase-related genomic sequence were not detected in ripening fruit.