Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (3): 48-59.doi: 10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2025-1308

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Advances in the Regulatory Mechanisms of Plastid Development on Fruit Ripening and Quality

DU Dan1,2(), GUO Xiang1, HU Xin1, PAN Yu1()   

  1. 1.College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Southwest University, Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biological Safety and Green Production in the Upper Reaches of Yangtze River (Ministry of Education), Chongqing 400715
    2.College of Biology and Food Engineering, Chongqing Three Gorges University, Chongqing 404120
  • Received:2025-12-01 Online:2026-03-26 Published:2026-04-23
  • Contact: PAN Yu E-mail:dudan199009@163.com;panyu1020@swu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Fruit color is a key agronomic trait that influences both commercial value and quality formation. The variation in fruit color is primarily governed by plastid development. As semi-autonomous organelles, elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying plastid development is of great significance for comprehensively understanding fruit development, ripening, and quality regulation. This article systematically reviews the classification and dynamic interconversion of plastids, their functions in endogenous substance metabolism in fruits, and the molecular mechanisms and environmental factors that regulate plastid development and transformation. In general, plastids mainly include proplastids, chloroplasts, chromoplasts, and amyloplasts, which can interconvert during different stages of fruit development. The most notable conversion is the transformation of chloroplasts into chromoplasts during fruit ripening, which directly affects peel coloration and the accumulation of nutritional components. The synthesis and accumulation of pigments within plastids, such as carotenoids and chlorophylls, are regulated at multiple regulation levels. This includes transcriptional regulation by key transcription factors (e.g., GLK, KNOX, APRR2), signal transduction by plant hormones (e.g., auxin, abscisic acid), and epigenetic mechanisms such as post-translational protein modifications and RNA editing within plastids. Furthermore, environmental factors such as light and temperature modulate chloroplast structure and pigment metabolism by affecting light signaling pathways and cold-responsive genes, thereby influencing postharvest fruit quality. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the molecular mechanisms of chloroplast development and their conversion to chromoplasts in fruits, the understanding of chromoplast biogenesis remains relatively limited. In future, multi-omics technologies and molecular regulatory networks should be integrated to decipher the synergistic mechanisms of plastids in fruit development and environmental adaptation, providing a theoretical basis for fruit quality improvement and storage preservation.

Key words: fruit plastid development, plastid interconversion, chloroplast development, chromoplast biogenesis, plastid metabolism, tomato fruit, phytohormones, environmental factors