The team has analyzed the 'Junk DNA' in 11 fleshy fruit genomes, and understanding of their ripening regulators, it is now possible to design strategies for engineering the regulatory element to manipulate candidate gene expression in order to alter specific ripening attributes to improve nutritional quality, consumer appeal and shelf life.
Further reading:
Peitao Lü, Sheng Yu, Ning Zhu, Yun-Ru Chen, Biyan Zhou, Yu Pan, David Tzeng, Joao Paulo Fabi, Jason Argyris, Jordi Garcia-Mas, Nenghui Ye, Jianhua Zhang, Donald Grierson, Jenny Xiang, Zhangjun Fei, James Giovannoni & Silin Zhong. "Genome encode analyses reveal the basis of convergent evolution of fleshy fruit ripening" in Natural Plants DOI: 10.1038/s41477-018-0249-z
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