PpERF3 positively regulates ABA biosynthesis by activating PpNCED2/3 transcription during fruit ripening in peach

Abstract

The plant hormone ethylene regulates ripening in climacteric fruits. The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) affects ethylene biosynthesis, but whether ethylene influences ABA biosynthesis is unknown. To explore this possibility, we investigated the interactions between the ABA biosynthesis genes PpNCED2/3 and the ethylene response transcription factor PpERF3 in peach fruit. The ABA content increased during fruit maturation and reached a peak at stage S4 III. The increase was greatly inhibited by the ethylene inhibitor 1-MCP, which also suppressed PpERF3 expression. PpERF3 shared a similar expression profile with PpNCED2/3, encoding a rate-limiting enzyme involved in ABA biosynthesis, during fruit ripening. A yeast one-hybrid assay suggested that the nuclear-localized PpERF3 might bind to the promoters of PpNCED2/3. PpERF3 increased the expression of PpNCED2/3 as shown by dual-luciferase reporters, promoter-GUS assays and transient expression analyses in peach fruit. Collectively, these results suggest that ethylene promotes ABA biosynthesis through PpERF3’s regulation of the expression of ABA biosynthesis genes PpNCED2/3.

Genome-wide identification and transcriptome profiling reveal that E3 ubiquitin ligase genes relevant to ethylene, auxin and abscisic acid are differentially expressed in the fruits of melting flesh and stony hard peach varieties

“…The AtORTH/VIM gene encodes a protein that regulates DNA methylation through it ubiquitin E3 ligase function [64]. These findings were consistent with previous reports that fruit ripening and softening are related to ethylene, IAA, ABA, and DNA methylation [11,12,19,65].…”

A NAC transcription factor and its interaction protein hinder abscisic acid biosynthesis by synergistically repressing NCED5 in Citrus reticulata

“…ABA is one of the key regulators of the fruit ripening process. The transcriptional regulation of ABA biosynthetic genes has been well studied in fruits ( Endo et al , 2016 ; Luo et al , 2017 ; Wang et al , 2019b ). However, comprehensive details of the effect of ABA on citrus ripening and the regulation of ABA biosynthesis in citrus by a multi-transcription factor complex remain largely unknown.…”

“…As important regulators of gene expression, besides working alone, different transcription factors can form complexes and recognize cis -regulatory elements within a target gene promoter for synergistic or antagonistic regulation of gene transcription. Given that ABA is an important regulator of stress tolerance and the fruit ripening process, the transcriptional regulation of NCEDs by a single transcription factor has been reported in many crops and fruits ( Jiang et al , 2012 ; Finkelstein, 2013 ; Jensen et al , 2013 ; Endo et al , 2016 ; Zong et al , 2016 ; Luo et al , 2017 ; Ma et al , 2018 ; Wang et al , 2019b ). However, to date research concerning synergistic regulation of fruit NCEDs by transcription factor complexes remains rare.…”

“…As the rate-limiting enzymes of ABA biosynthesis, NCEDs have attracted considerable of attention and the transcriptional regulation of NCEDs is one of the hot topics in ABA research. In tomato, banana, peach, and citrus fruit, WRKYs, ERF3, and bHLH1 transcription factors can directly bind to their promoters and regulate the expression of NCEDs ( Endo et al , 2016 ; Luo et al , 2017 ; Wang et al , 2019b ). In the well-known model of anthocyanin biosynthesis, the synergistic transcriptional regulation of the MBW complex (MYB–bHLH–WD40) can induce higher expression of anthocyanin-associated genes than the effect of the single transcription factors separately, which demonstrated that synergistic regulation of transcription factor complexes is more efficient in the fruit ripening process ( Schaart et al , 2013 ; Wang et al , 2019a ).…”

Genome-wide identification and transcriptome profiling reveal that E3 ubiquitin ligase genes relevant to ethylene, auxin and abscisic acid are differentially expressed in the fruits of melting flesh and stony hard peach varieties

“…In addition to auxin and ethylene, abscisic acid (ABA) also plays critical roles in fruit ripening [16][17][18]. In peach, ABA appears to regulate ripening by affecting ethylene, cell wall and auxin-related genes, while ethylene acts as feedback regulator of ABA, contributing to rapid fruit softening [16,19].…”