Ethylene is one of the most important plant hormones that participate in regulation on fruit ripening and influence postharvest qualities,by accelerating fruit aroma and flavour release,softening/lignification,overripe deterioration,etc.The exploration on underlying regulatory mechanisms of ethylene would benefit to manifest fruit ripening and postharvest quality.On basis of ethylene signal transduction model,we focused on the roles of ethylene response factors(ERF)on quality regulation in various fruit.Some ERF genes were identified as regulators on fruit softening(kiwifruit AdERF9),flavor(persimmon DkERF9/10/19/22).Recently,an AP2/ERF gene,EjAP2-1,was characterized from loquat fruit.Expression of EjAP2-1 was negatively correlated with lignification in response to low temperature and few other treatments.Dual luciferase analyses further supported gene expression results and EjAP2-1 had a trans-repressive effect on promoters of lignin biosynthetic genes,although a yeast one-hybrid assay indicated that EjAP2-1 could not bind to target promoters.Further analysis indicated that regulation of lignification by EjAP2-1,via proteinprotein interactions with lignin biosynthesis-related EjMYB1 and EjMYB2.Thus,our results,as well as a few recent publications in tomato,suggested that AP2/ERF transcription factors are novel regulators on fruit quality,however,similar results are still limited.