Lycopene accumulation affects the biosynthesis of some carotenoid-related volatiles independent of ethylene in tomato

For elucidating the regulatory mechanism of ethylene on carotenoid-related volatiles (open chain) compounds and the relationship between lycopene and carotenoid-related volatiles,transgenic tomato fruits in which ACC synthase was suppressed were used.The transgenic tomato fruit showed a significant reduction of lycopene and aroma volatiles with low ethylene production.6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one,6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol and geranylacetone,which were suspected to be lycopene degradation products,were lower than those in wild type tomato fruits.In order to identify whether lycopene accumulation effects the biosynthesis of some carotenoid-related volatiles independent of ethylene in tomato or not,the capability of both wild type and transgenic tomato fruits discs to convert lycopene into carotenoid-related volatiles was evaluated.The data showed that external lycopene could convert into 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol in vivo,Indicating that the strong inhibition of ethylene production had no effect on enzymes in the biosynthesis pathway of some carotenoid-related volatiles.Therefore,in ACS-suppression transgenic tomato fruits,the low levels of 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one,6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol was due to decreased lycopene accumulation,not ethylene production.Ethylene only affected the accumulation of lycopene,and then indirectly influenceed the level of lycopene-related volatiles.