Fruit-specific RNAi-mediated suppression of SlNCED1 increases both lycopene and β-carotene contents in tomato fruit
Open Access
- 15 February 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Journal of Experimental Botany
- Vol. 63 (8), 3097-3108
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ers026
Abstract
Abscisic acid (ABA) plays important roles during tomato fruit ripening. To study the regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis by ABA, the SlNCED1 gene encoding 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED), a key enzyme in the ABA biosynthesis, was suppressed in tomato plants by transformation with an RNA interference (RNAi) construct driven by a fruit-specific E8 promoter. ABA accumulation and SlNCED1 transcript levels in the transgenic fruit were down-regulated to between 20–50% of that in control fruit. This significant reduction in NCED activity led to the carbon that normally channels to free ABA as well as the ABA metabolite accumulation during ripening to be partially blocked. Therefore, this ‘backlogged’ carbon transformed into the carotenoid pathway in the RNAi lines resulted in increased assimilation and accumulation of upstream compounds in the pathway, chiefly lycopene and β-carotene. Fruit of all RNAi lines displayed deep red coloration compared with the pink colour of control fruit. The decrease in endogenous ABA in these transgenics resulted in an increase in ethylene, by increasing the transcription of genes related to the synthesis of ethylene during ripening. In conclusion, ABA potentially regulated the degree of pigmentation and carotenoid composition during ripening and could control, at least in part, ethylene production and action in climacteric tomato fruit.Keywords
This publication has 47 references indexed in Scilit:
- Transcriptional regulation of SlPYL, SlPP2C, and SlSnRK2 gene families encoding ABA signal core components during tomato fruit development and drought stressJournal of Experimental Botany, 2011
- Reciprocity between abscisic acid and ethylene at the onset of berry ripening and after harvestBMC Plant Biology, 2010
- The Arabidopsis B-sister MADS-box protein, GORDITA, represses fruit growth and contributes to integument developmentThe Plant Journal, 2010
- Enrichment of tomato fruit with health-promoting anthocyanins by expression of select transcription factorsNature Biotechnology, 2008
- Over‐expression of LeNCED1 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) with the rbcS3C promoter allows recovery of lines that accumulate very high levels of abscisic acid and exhibit severe phenotypesPlant, Cell & Environment, 2008
- Selection of internal control genes for quantitative real-time RT-PCR studies during tomato development processBMC Plant Biology, 2008
- Complementation of notabilis, an abscisic acid‐deficient mutant of tomato: importance of sequence context and utility of partial complementationPlant, Cell & Environment, 2004
- Regulation of a carotenoid biosynthesis gene promoter during plant developmentThe Plant Journal, 1996
- A Modified Hot Borate Method Significantly Enhances the Yield of High-Quality RNA from Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)Analytical Biochemistry, 1994
- Biochemical characterization of transgenic tomato plants in which carotenoid synthesis has been inhibited through the expression of antisense RNA to pTOM5The Plant Journal, 1992