Altered brassinolide sensitivity1 Regulates Fruit Size in Association with Phytohormones Modulation in Tomato

Abstract

BRs (Brassinosteroids) regulate many essential pathways related to growth, cell elongation, cell expansion, plant architecture, and fruit development. The potential exogenous application of BR-derivatives has been proven to stimulate plant growth and development, including quality attributes of fruits, whereas its biosynthesis inhibition has shown the opposite effect. In this study, BR-insensitive tomato mutants were used to reveal the potential function of BR signaling in the regulation of fruit development to elaborate the regulatory mechanism of BR signaling in tomato fruits. The BR-signaling mutant exhibited a typical dwarf phenotype and reduced vegetative growth, fruit size, and weight. Microscopic and transcriptional evaluation of the abs1 mutant fruits implies that reduced cell size and number are responsible for the phenotypic variations. Additionally, we also found that the altered content of phytohormones, such as auxin, gibberellin, cytokinin, and ethylene levels, contributed to altered fruit development. Moreover, fruit growth and cell development-specific gene expression levels were downregulated in BR-insensitive plants; culminating in reduced cell size, cell number, and cell layers. These findings provide insight into physio-chemical changes during fruit development in response to BR-insensitivity.