番木瓜采后极易成熟衰老和品质劣变。Ca2+是植物重要的第二信使，在调节果蔬采后生理起着重要作用。本项目组前期研究结果表明采后钙处理能有效延缓番木瓜果实成熟及品质劣变，并发现番木瓜同源钙调蛋白类蛋白基因CpCML15和CpCML16的表达与果实成熟密切相关，分别受乙烯正调控和负调控，推测CpCML15和CpCML16可能通过与乙烯信号相关蛋白互作协同调控果实成熟。为证明此假说，拟系统研究钙处理对番木瓜采后成熟衰老及品质的影响，分析CpCML15和CpCML16的相关特性，通过番茄异源转基因分析，探究CpCML15和CpCML16调控果实成熟的功能，同时利用酵母双杂交技术筛选相关互作蛋白，重点研究乙烯信号相关蛋白，分析其与乙烯信号的关系，以新的角度揭示CpCML15和CpCML16与乙烯信号协同调控番木瓜果实成熟衰老的分子机制，以期为钙处理调控番木瓜果实成熟衰老的应用研究提供理论基础和新思路。

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) fruit ripen and break up rapidly after harvest. Ca2+ serves as the second message, which playing important roles in regulating the physiology of postharvest fruit and vegetable. Our preliminary results showed that postharvest calcium treatment could efficiently delay papaya fruit ripening and quality deterioration, and we also found that the expression of the paralogous genes, CpCML15 and CpCML16, are closely associated with fruit ripening, which positively and negatively regulated by ethylene,respectively. We propose that CpCML15 and CpCML16 interact with proteins related to the ethylene signal pathway to co-regulate the fruit ripening process. To prove the hypothesis, in this project, we plan to comprehensively study the effects of calcium treatment on postharvest ripening and quality of papaya fruit. The related profiles of CpCML15 and CpCML16 will be analyzed. Transgenic tomato will be employed to clarify the roles of CpCML15 and CpCML16 in fruit ripening. The target proteins of CpCML15 and CpCML16 will screen by the yeast two-hybrid technique and confirm by other tools, which will mainly focus on the proteins related to ethylene signal pathway, for further understand the relationship between CpCML15 and CpCML16 and ethylene signal. The results of this project will not only explore the molecular mechanism of calcium, CpCML15 and CpCML16, and ethylene signal in co-regulating fruit ripening and senescence, but also provide the theoretical guidance for the application research of papaya fruit ripening regulation.