A truncated B-box zinc finger transcription factor confers drought sensitivity in modern cultivated tomatoes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39271661.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-51699-7 and PMC identifier 11399245.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
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Abstract
Enhancing drought tolerance in crops and understanding the underlying mechanisms have been subject of intense research. The precise function and molecular mechanisms of B-box zinc finger proteins (BBX) remain elusive. Here, we report a natural allele of BBX18 (BBX18<sup>TT</sup>) that encodes a C-terminal truncated protein. While most wild tomato germplasms contain the BBX18<sup>CC</sup> allele and show more drought tolerant, modern cultivated tomatoes mostly carry BBX18<sup>TT</sup> allele and are more drought sensitive. Knockout of BBX18 leads to improved drought tolerance in transgenic plants of cultivated tomato. Ascorbate peroxidase 1 (APX1) is identified as a BBX18-interacting protein that acts as a positive regulator of drought resistance in tomato. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing analyses reveal that BBX18 binds to a unique cis-acting element of the APX1 promoter and represses its gene expression. This study provides insights into the molecular mechanism underlying drought resistance mediated by the BBX18-APX1 module in plants.
Medical subject headings
- Solanum lycopersicum
- Droughts
- Plant Proteins
- Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
- Transcription Factors
- Plants, Genetically Modified
- Zinc Fingers