Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruits are typically red at ripening, with high levels of carotenoids and a low content in flavonoids. Considerable work has been done to enrich the spectrum of their health-beneficial phytochemicals, and interspecific crosses with wild species have successfully led to purple anthocyanin-colored fruits. The Aft (Anthocyanin fruit) tomato accession inherited from Solanum chilense the ability to accumulate anthocyanins in fruit peel through the introgression of loci controlling anthocyanin pigmentation, including four R2R3 MYB transcription factor-encoding genes. Here, we carried out a comparative functional analysis of these transcription factors in wild-type and Aft plants, and tested their ability to take part in the transcriptional complexes that regulate the biosynthetic pathway and their efficiency in inducing anthocyanin pigmentation. Significant differences emerged for SlAN2like, both in the expression level and protein functionality, with splicing mutations determining a complete loss of function of the wild-type protein. This transcription factor thus appears to play a key role in the anthocyanin fruit pigmentation. Our data provide new clues to the long-awaited genetic basis of the Aft phenotype and contribute to understand why domesticated tomato fruits display a homogeneous red coloration without the typical purple streaks observed in wild tomato species.

Alternative splicing in the Anthocyanin fruit gene encoding an R2R3 MYB transcription factor affects anthocyanin biosynthesis in tomato fruits / S. Colanero, A. Tagliani, P. Perata, S. Gonzali. - In: PLANT COMMUNICATIONS. - ISSN 2590-3462. - 1:1(2020 Jan 13), pp. 100006.1-100006.12.

Alternative splicing in the Anthocyanin fruit gene encoding an R2R3 MYB transcription factor affects anthocyanin biosynthesis in tomato fruits

S. Colanero
Primo
;
A. Tagliani
Secondo
;
2020

Abstract

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruits are typically red at ripening, with high levels of carotenoids and a low content in flavonoids. Considerable work has been done to enrich the spectrum of their health-beneficial phytochemicals, and interspecific crosses with wild species have successfully led to purple anthocyanin-colored fruits. The Aft (Anthocyanin fruit) tomato accession inherited from Solanum chilense the ability to accumulate anthocyanins in fruit peel through the introgression of loci controlling anthocyanin pigmentation, including four R2R3 MYB transcription factor-encoding genes. Here, we carried out a comparative functional analysis of these transcription factors in wild-type and Aft plants, and tested their ability to take part in the transcriptional complexes that regulate the biosynthetic pathway and their efficiency in inducing anthocyanin pigmentation. Significant differences emerged for SlAN2like, both in the expression level and protein functionality, with splicing mutations determining a complete loss of function of the wild-type protein. This transcription factor thus appears to play a key role in the anthocyanin fruit pigmentation. Our data provide new clues to the long-awaited genetic basis of the Aft phenotype and contribute to understand why domesticated tomato fruits display a homogeneous red coloration without the typical purple streaks observed in wild tomato species.
Solanum lycopersicum; tomato; Aft; anthocyanin; R2R3 MYB transcription factors; MBW complex
Settore BIO/04 - Fisiologia Vegetale
13-gen-2020
Article (author)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/796000
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