Abstract
The plant hormone ethylene regulates ripening in climacteric fruits. The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) affects ethylene biosynthesis, but whether ethylene influences ABA biosynthesis is unknown. To explore this possibility, we investigated the interactions between the ABA biosynthesis genes PpNCED2/3 and the ethylene response transcription factor PpERF3 in peach fruit. The ABA content increased during fruit maturation and reached a peak at stage S4 III. The increase was greatly inhibited by the ethylene inhibitor 1-MCP, which also suppressed PpERF3 expression. PpERF3 shared a similar expression profile with PpNCED2/3, encoding a rate-limiting enzyme involved in ABA biosynthesis, during fruit ripening. A yeast one-hybrid assay suggested that the nuclear-localized PpERF3 might bind to the promoters of PpNCED2/3. PpERF3 increased the expression of PpNCED2/3 as shown by dual-luciferase reporters, promoter-GUS assays and transient expression analyses in peach fruit. Collectively, these results suggest that ethylene promotes ABA biosynthesis through PpERF3’s regulation of the expression of ABA biosynthesis genes PpNCED2/3.
Highlights
Ethylene is the key plant hormone that regulates the fruit ripening process
Our results show that Ethylene response factors (ERFs) regulate abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis in ripening peach fruit by targeting PpNCED promoters
During the maturation of ‘CN13’ peach fruit, the ABA content decreased slowly from S3 to S4 I, which was followed by a gradual increase from S4 I to S4 II and a marked increase from S4 II to S4 III (Fig. 1a)
Summary
Ethylene is the key plant hormone that regulates the fruit ripening process. This regulation is mediated through ethylene-responsive genes, those encoding transcription factors. These transcription factors regulate multiple biochemical pathways that underpin fruit ripening traits, including the levels of sugars, acids, pigments, and flavor and aroma compounds and fruit firmness and texture[1,2]. In the past few decades, our understanding of the mechanisms by which plants respond to ethylene has greatly increased[3,4]. Ethylene biosynthesis is catalyzed by two key enzymes: ACC synthase and ACC oxidase. The expression of the genes encoding these two ethylene
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