The Molecular Biology and Biochemistry of Fruit Ripening -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Preface -- 1 Biochemistry of Fruit Ripening -- Introduction -- Central Carbon Metabolism -- Ethylene in Ripening -- Polyamines -- Volatiles -- Cell Wall Metabolism -- Concluding Remarks -- References -- 2 Fruit-An Angiosperm Innovation -- Introduction -- Fruit in the Fossil Record -- Fruit Variation and Angiosperm Phylogeny -- Fruit Development -- Fruit as a Driver of Angiosperm Diversity -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 3 Ethylene and the Control of Fruit Ripening -- Introduction -- Ethylene and Climacteric and Nonclimacteric Fruits -- A Molecular Explanation for System-1 and System-2 Ethylene -- Ethylene and Ripening Gene Networks in Flower and Fruit Development -- Ethylene Perception and Signaling -- The Receptors -- Interaction of Receptors with CTRs -- Other Receptor-interacting Proteins -- Signaling Downstream of CTR -- Ethylene Response Factors -- Ethylene and Ripening Gene Expression -- Color -- Texture -- Flavor and Aroma Volatiles -- Susceptibility to Pathogens -- Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 4 Carotenoid Biosynthesis and Chlorophyll Degradation -- Introduction -- Distribution of Carotenoids and Chlorophylls in Fruit -- Chlorophyll Degradation and Recycling -- Chlorophyll Degradation During Senescence and Fruit Ripening -- Recycling of Chlorophyll Metabolites -- Carotenoids and Carotenoid Metabolites -- Structures and Functions in Higher Plants -- Carotenoid and Apocarotenoid Biosynthesis -- Regulation of Carotenoid Biosynthesis During Fruit Ripening -- Future Perspectives -- Acknowledgments -- Bibliography -- 5 Phenylpropanoid Metabolism and Biosynthesis of Anthocyanins -- Introduction -- Cinnamic Acids -- Monolignols, Lignans, and Lignin -- Coumarins -- Stilbenoids -- Flavonoids.

Engineering Elevated Levels of Flavonoids and Other Phenylpropanoids -- Conclusion -- References -- 6 Biosynthesis of Volatile Compounds -- Introduction -- Metabolic Pathways -- Fatty Acid Derivatives Pathways -- Phenylpropanoids and other Benzenoids Pathways -- Other Amino Acid-derived Volatile Pathways -- Ester Volatile Pathways -- Terpenoid Pathway -- Apocarotenoid Pathways -- Furanone Pathway -- Conjugation and Emission of Volatiles -- Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci for Volatiles -- Metabolic Engineering of the Fruit Volatile Pathways -- Future Perspectives -- References -- 7 Cell Wall Architecture and Metabolism in Ripening Fruit and the Complex Relationship with Softening -- Introduction -- Building Blocks of Fruit CellWalls -- Cellulose -- Hemicelluloses -- Pectins -- Structural Proteins -- The Architecture of Fruit CellWalls -- Cell Wall Dynamics in Ripening Fruit -- Ripening-related Disassembly of Cell Wall Polysaccharides -- Mechanisms of Cell Wall Modification -- Confirmation and characterization of in vivo enzyme activities -- Comparative studies of cell-wall-texture associations in different fruit species -- Evaluation of coordinated and synergistic mechanisms of cell wall disassembly -- Regulation of cell-wall-modifying enzyme action -- The Cuticular CellWall and Fruit Softening -- Summary -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 8 Regulatory Networks Controlling Ripening -- Hormonal Control -- Genetic Networks -- Transcription Control Revealed by Analysis of Tomato Ripening Mutations -- Additional Transcriptional Regulators of Ripening Identified Through Molecular Studies -- Downstream Ripening Signals and Activities -- Regulation of Fruit Quality Attributes -- Epigenetic Regulation -- References -- Index.