Project description:Tomato fruit ripening is under the control of ethylene as well as a group of ethylene-independent transcription factors, including NON-RIPENING (NOR) and RIPENING INHIBITOR (RIN). During ripening, the linear carotene lycopene accumulates at the expense of cyclic carotenoids. Fruit-specific overexpression of LYCOPENE β-CYCLASE (LCYb) under the control of the PHYTOENE DESATURASE (PDS) promoter resulted in increased levels of β-carotene and ABA and in decreased ethylene levels. Genes regulated by ABA, or involved in its synthesis and signaling, were overexpressed, while those associated with ethylene and cell wall remodeling were repressed. In agreement with the transcriptional data, LCYb-overexpressing fruits exhibited increased density of cell wall material containing linear, under-methylated pectins and displayed an array of additional ripening phenotypes, including delayed softening, increased turgor, enhanced shelf life and a thicker cuticle with a higher content of cutin monomers and triterpenoids. The levels of several primary metabolites and phenylpropanoids also changed in the transgenics, which could be attributed to delayed fruit ripening and to ABA respectively. Network correlation analysis suggests that ABA, acting through NOR and RIN, is responsible for many of the above phenotypes. These data reinforce suggestions that ABA plays an important role in tomato fruit ripening and provide clues that fruit b-carotene, acting as a precursor for ABA, actively participates in controlling the ripening process rather than merely being an output thereof. Overexpression of a LCYb gene from Arabidopsis under the control of the ripening-associated PDS promoter leads to ripe tomato fruits accumulating high β-carotene levels. Using several independent transgenic lines, we conducted a system-wide study of the effect of increased β-carotene levels on tomato fruit ripening and shelf life. Our data suggest that β-carotene, acting through ABA, is involved in a regulatory loop within the network controlling tomato fruit ripening.
Project description:RNA sequencing was performed on tomato hairy root lines transformed with a GUS overexpression construct, 24 h after mock and jasmonate (JA) treatment. This set-up allowed us to map the gene targets of JA in tomato hairy roots after 24h.