We have previously described the construction and expression of a chimeric gene that allows developmentally regulated expression of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) polygalacturonase in ripening-impaired, mutant (rin) tomato fruit (JJ Giovannoni, D DellaPenna, AB Bennett, The Plant Cell 1: 53-63). We now show that expression of the chimeric polygalacturonase gene in rin tomato fruit resulted in the accumulation of all three polygalacturonase isozymes (PG1, PG2A, and PG2B). Polyuronide solubilization and polyuronide depolymerization both reached their maximal levels in transgenic rin fruit prior to the appearance of PG2 isozymes. These results demonstrate that PG1, PG2A, and PG2B all arise by differential processing of a single gene product and further suggest that the PG1 isozyme is sufficient to carry out both polyuronide solubilization and depolymerization in vivo.Tomato fruit ripening is characterized by a number of coordinated biochemical and physiological changes, which collectively alter fruit color, flavor, and texture. Biochemical and genetic analysis (6, 7) has indicated that many of the physiological processes associated with ripening are regulated at the level of gene expression, a view firmly supported by recent analysis ofgene expression during tomato fruit ripening (1,8,11,14,17,28).Among the ripening-associated enzymes studied in tomato, the cell wall-degrading enzyme polygalacturonase has been analyzed in the greatest detail (2,4,5,8,9,12,13,(24)(25)(26). The site of action of polygalacturonase is the cell wall, where it hydrolyzes polyuronides, or pectins. The increase in the level of chelator-soluble polyuronides during ripening and their corresponding decrease in molecular size have been well documented and are attributed to the action of polygalacturonase (15,22,23). Polygalacturonase activity isolated from ripe fruit is comprised of three closely related isozymes, PGl, PG2A, and PG2B (4,5,10,(18)(19)(20)