US department of agriculture researchers have found a gene that makes tomatoes ripen which could mean tastier tomatoes on the marketplace. The USDA's Agriculture Research Service-led discoveries reported in the journal Science last week found the RIN gene affects both ethylene production during ripening and other processes of ripening not dependent on ethylene.

Fine tuning of activity between the gene and a non-functioning mutant form could prove to be the substitute for green or backward picking of fruit for export. This would help maintain a long shelf life and the ability to ripen properly, in turn maintaining the desirable characteristics of a vine-ripened tomato in fruit enduring long shipping times.

More information from www.ars.usda.gov or www.sciencemag.org

Topics