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Role of ethylene biosynthesis and signaling in elevated CO2-induced heat stress response in tomato

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Abstract

Main conclusion

This article unveiled that ethylene biosynthesis and signaling play a critical role in heat stress response of tomato plants under elevated CO2.

Abstract

Plant responses to elevated CO2 and heat stress are tightly regulated by an intricate network of phytohormones. Plants accumulate ethylene (ET), the smallest hormone, in response to heat stress; however, the role of ET and its signaling in elevated CO2-induced heat stress response remains largely unknown. In this study, we found that transcript levels of multiple genes relating to ET synthesis, signaling, and heat shock proteins (HSPs) were induced by elevated CO2 (800 μmol mol−1) compared to ambient CO2 (400 μmol mol−1) in tomato leaves under controlled temperature conditions (25 °C). Elevated CO2-induced responses to heat stress (42 °C) were closely associated with increased ET production and HSP70 expression at both transcript and protein levels. Pretreatment with an antagonist of ET, 1-methylcyclopropene that inhibits ET-dependent responses, abolished elevated CO2-induced stress response without affecting the ET production rate. In addition, silencing of ethylene response factor 1 (ERF1) compromised elevated CO2-induced responses to heat stress, which was associated with the concomitant reduction in the transcript of heat shock factor A2, HSP70 and HSP90, indicating that ERF1 is required for elevated CO2-induced responses to heat. All these results provide convincing evidence on the importance of ET biosynthesis and signaling in elevated CO2-induced heat stress response in tomato plants. Thus, the study advances our understanding of the mechanisms of elevated CO2-induced stress response and may potentially be useful for breeding heat-tolerant tomatoes in the era of climate change.

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Abbreviations

1-MCP:

1-Methylcyclopropene

ACO:

ACC oxidases

ERFs:

Ethylene response factors

ET:

Ethylene

HSFs:

Heat shock factors

HSPs:

Heat shock proteins

REC:

Relative electrical conductivity

VIGS:

Virus-induced gene silencing

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD1000800), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province for Distinguished Young Scholar (LR19C150001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31822046 and 31772355), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. We are grateful to the Tomato Genetics Resource Center at the University of California Davis, for kind advice on the Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Ailsa Craig.

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  1. Caizhe Pan and Huan Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, People’s Republic of China

    Caizhe Pan, Huan Zhang, Qiaomei Ma, Feijun Fan, Ruishuang Fu, Jingquan Yu & Kai Shi

  2. Lishui Crop Research Station, 827 Liyang Street, Lishui, 323000, People’s Republic of China

    Feijun Fan

  3. College of Forestry, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, People’s Republic of China

    Golam Jalal Ahammed

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  1. Caizhe Pan
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Pan, C., Zhang, H., Ma, Q. et al. Role of ethylene biosynthesis and signaling in elevated CO2-induced heat stress response in tomato. Planta 250, 563–572 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-019-03192-5

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