Fulltext

Cutin formation in tomato is controlled by a multipartite module of synergistic and antagonistic transcription factors

Shi Y 1 , Deng C 1 , Lu X 1 , Wang Y 1 , Pan Y 1 , Su D 1 Show all authors , Lu W 1 , Lin Y 1 , Li R 1 , Han J 1 , Hao Y 2 , Chen Y 3 , Abid G 4 , Pirrello J 5 , Bouzayen M 6 , Liu Y 7 , Li Z 8 , Huang B 9

Affiliations 

  • 1 Key Laboratory of Plant Hormones Regulation and Molecular Breeding of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China; Center of Plant Functional Genomics and Synthetic Biology, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China
  • 2 College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • 3 Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Logistic and Processing, State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Research Laboratory for Agricultural Product Processing and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China
  • 4 Centre of Biotechnology of Borj-Cedria, Laboratory of Legumes and Sustainable Agrosystems, P.B. 901, Hammam-Lif 2050, Tunisia
  • 5 Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Vegetales - Genomique et Biotechnologie des Fruits - UMR5546, Toulouse-INP, CNRS, UPS, Universite de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
  • 6 Center of Plant Functional Genomics and Synthetic Biology, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China; Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Vegetales - Genomique et Biotechnologie des Fruits - UMR5546, Toulouse-INP, CNRS, UPS, Universite de Toulouse, Toulouse, France. Electronic address: bouzayen@ensat.fr
  • 7 School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China. Electronic address: yudongliu@cqu.edu.cn
  • 8 Key Laboratory of Plant Hormones Regulation and Molecular Breeding of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China; Center of Plant Functional Genomics and Synthetic Biology, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China. Electronic address: zhengguoli@cqu.edu.cn
  • 9 Key Laboratory of Plant Hormones Regulation and Molecular Breeding of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China; Center of Plant Functional Genomics and Synthetic Biology, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China. Electronic address: huangbaowen2022@cqu.edu
Cell Rep, 2025 Jan 31;44(2):115258.
PMID: 39891905 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115258

Abstract

Cuticles protect plants from water loss and pathogen attack. We address here the functional significance of SlGRAS9, SlZHD17, and SlMBP3 in regulating cutin formation in tomato fruit. The study unveils the role of the multipartite "SlGRAS9-SlZHD17-SlMBP3-SlMIXTA-like" transcription factor module in cutin biosynthesis. Plants deficient in SlGRAS9, SlZHD17, or SlMBP3 exhibit thickened cuticles and a higher accumulation of cutin monomers, conferring extended fruit shelf life and higher tolerance to postharvest fungal infection. SlGRAS9 regulation of cutin is mediated by SlZHD17, a negative regulator of SlCYP86A69. SlZHD17 acts synergistically with SlMBP3 to repress SlCYP86A69, and its interaction with SlMIXTA-like prevents the binding to the SlCYP86A69 promoter, thereby releasing the repression of cutin biosynthesis. SlZHD17 and SlMBP3 synergistically repress cutin biosynthesis, while SlMIXTA-like and SlCD2 act antagonistically to SlZHD17 and SlMBP3 on this metabolic pathway. The study defines targets for breeding strategies aimed at improving cuticle-associated traits in tomato and potentially other crops.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Similar publications