Tomato short internodes and pedicels encode an LRR receptor-like serine/threonine-protein kinase ERECTA regulating stem elongation through modulating gibberellin metabolism

Bibliographic Details
Title: Tomato short internodes and pedicels encode an LRR receptor-like serine/threonine-protein kinase ERECTA regulating stem elongation through modulating gibberellin metabolism
Authors: Xueya Zhao, Kunpeng Zhang, Huidong Zhang, Mengxi Bi, Yi He, Yiqing Cui, Changhua Tan, Jian Ma, Mingfang Qi
Source: Frontiers in Plant Science, Vol 14 (2023)
Publisher Information: Frontiers Media S.A., 2023.
Publication Year: 2023
Collection: LCC:Plant culture
Subject Terms: tomato, short internodes, short pedicels, ERECTA, gibberellin, Plant culture, SB1-1110
More Details: Plant height is an important agronomic trait. Dwarf varieties present several advantages, such as lodging resistance, increased yield, and suitability for mechanized harvesting, which are crucial for crop improvement. However, limited research is available on dwarf tomato varieties suitable for production. In this study, we report a novel short internode mutant named “short internode and pedicel (sip)” in tomato, which exhibits marked internode and pedicel shortening due to suppressed cell elongation. This mutant plant has a compact plant structure and compact inflorescence, and has been demonstrated to produce more fruits, resulting in a higher harvest index. Genetic analysis revealed that this phenotype is controlled by a single recessive gene, SlSIP. BSA analysis and KASP genotyping indicated that ERECTA (ER) is the possible candidate gene for SlSIP, which encodes a leucine-rich receptor-like kinase. Additionally, we obtained an ER functional loss mutant using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology. The 401st base A of ER is substituted with T in sip, resulting in a change in the 134th amino acid from asparagine (N) to isoleucine (I). Molecular dynamics(MD) simulations showed that this mutation site is located in the extracellular LRR domain and alters nearby ionic bonds, leading to a change in the spatial structure of this site. Transcriptome analysis indicated that the genes that were differentially expressed between sip and wild-type (WT) plants were enriched in the gibberellin metabolic pathway. We found that GA3 and GA4 decreased in the sip mutant, and exogenous GA3 restored the sip to the height of the WT plant. These findings reveal that SlSIP in tomatoes regulates stem elongation by regulating gibberellin metabolism. These results provide new insights into the mechanisms of tomato dwarfing and germplasm resources for breeding dwarfing tomatoes.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1664-462X
Relation: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1283489/full; https://doaj.org/toc/1664-462X
DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1283489
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/d0d136042a0b41fda71b741ff1efdc1d
Accession Number: edsdoj.0d136042a0b41fda71b741ff1efdc1d
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:1664462X
DOI:10.3389/fpls.2023.1283489
Published in:Frontiers in Plant Science
Language:English