A distal enhancer guides the negative selection of toxic glycoalkaloids during tomato domestication.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38570494.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-47292-7 and PMC identifier 10991328.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) are major plant defense metabolites against pests, while they are considered poisonous in food. The genetic basis that guides negative selection of SGAs production during tomato domestication remains poorly understood. Here, we identify a distal enhancer, GAME Enhancer 1 (GE1), as the key regulator of SGAs metabolism in tomato. GE1 recruits MYC2-GAME9 transcriptional complex to regulate the expression of GAME cluster genes via the formation of chromatin loops located in the neighboring DNA region. A naturally occurring GE1<sup>76</sup> allelic variant is found to be more active in stimulating GAME expression. We show that the weaker GE1 allele has been the main driver for selecting reduced SGAs levels during tomato domestication. Unravelling the "TFs-Enhancer-Promoter" regulatory mechanism operating in SGAs metabolism opens unprecedented prospects for SGAs manipulation in Solanaceae via precision breeding strategies.
Medical subject headings
- Solanum lycopersicum
- Solanaceae