The NAC transcription factor FaRIF controls fruit ripening in strawberry
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Open Access
- 24 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in THE PLANT CELL ONLINE
- Vol. 33 (5), 1574-1593
- https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab070
Abstract
In contrast to climacteric fruits such as tomato, the knowledge on key regulatory genes controlling the ripening of strawberry, a nonclimacteric fruit, is still limited. NAC transcription factors (TFs) mediate different developmental processes in plants. Here, we identified and characterized Ripening Inducing Factor (FaRIF), a NAC TF that is highly expressed and induced in strawberry receptacles during ripening. Functional analyses based on stable transgenic lines aimed at silencing FaRIF by RNA interference, either from a constitutive promoter or the ripe receptacle-specific EXP2 promoter, as well as overexpression lines showed that FaRIF controls critical ripening-related processes such as fruit softening and pigment and sugar accumulation. Physiological, metabolome, and transcriptome analyses of receptacles of FaRIF-silenced and overexpression lines point to FaRIF as a key regulator of strawberry fruit ripening from early developmental stages, controlling abscisic acid biosynthesis and signaling, cell-wall degradation, and modification, the phenylpropanoid pathway, volatiles production, and the balance of the aerobic/anaerobic metabolism. FaRIF is therefore a target to be modified/edited to control the quality of strawberry fruits.Keywords
Funding Information
- European Research Council (ERC-2014-StG 638134 to D.P.)
- Spanish ministries of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, BIO2013-44199-R to V.V.)
- Science and Innovation (MICINN, RTI2018-09309-A-I00 to D.P., BIO2017-82609-R to M.A.B, and PID2019-111496RR-I00 to I.A.)
- Ramón y Cajal Programs (RYC2013-12699, RYC2011-09170)
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