Fruits are rich sources of flavonoid polyphenolic compounds that seem to be associated with favourable healtheffects. Commonalities and differences are well known in the flavonoid contents of different fruit crops, which suggest alterations in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway of fruit tissues. This review aims to collect data from molecular genetic studies on the structural and regulatory genes in grape, berries, citrus, pomes and stone fruits to get impression on the state of the art of this field of science. Results indicate that the expression of flavonoid genes is a genotype-dependent and developmentally regulated process. In addition, genetic alterations resulting in specific changes in flavonoid composition are also highlighted. Analysis of colour mutants of grape, bilberry and orange identified the genes responsible for the altered phenotype, and this strategy might offer valuable tools to identify several other candidate genes in different fruits. The application of such data is also discussed in relation with the development of molecular markers.
Discussion(0)
No comments yet. Be the first to comment.