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The role of gibberellins and auxin on the tomato cell layers in pericarp via the expression of ARFs regulated by miRNAs in fruit set

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Abstract

Phytohormones, such as auxin (IAA) and gibberellin (GA), are known to be essential for fruit development. We utilized GA-deficient (gib-3) and diageotropica (dgt) tomato mutants to elucidate the effects of single hormones in the pericarp. The application of IAA or GA, respectively, to gib-3 or dgt single mutants induced a significant morphological difference in the fruit set. We found that IAA application induced cell division in the gib-3 pericarp and that GA application did not increase the cell layers in the dgt pericarp. In molecular studies, the expression levels of SlARF6, SlARF8, SlARF10 and SlARF16 were downregulated by IAA application, whereas the expression of their regulators miRNA160 and miRNA167 was upregulated by IAA application in gib-3 plants. Furthermore, the expression levels of SlARF6, SlARF8, SlARF10 and SlARF16 were upregulated by GA application, whereas the expression levels of miRNAs were reduced in the dgt mutant. These results imply that the expression levels of SlARF6, SlARF8, SlARF10 and SlARF16 were negatively correlated with the number of cell layers in the pericarp during fruit set. To further support this hypothesis, 35s:mSlARF10 transgenic plants resistant to SlmiR160 cleavage of SlARF10 mRNA were used to investigate the cell layers in fruit. These results revealed that mSlARF10 overexpression indeed resulted in fewer cell layers than in wild type fruit. Together, our data suggest that GA- and IAA-mediated miRNAs and their target ARFs influence the formation of pericarp cell layers during fruit set development.

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Abbreviations

miRNA:

MicroRNA

ARF:

Auxin response factor

RT-qPCR:

Real-time quantitative PCR

GAs:

Gibberellins

IAA:

Indole-3-acetic acid

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Acknowledgments

We thank T. Arazi and colleagues at the Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Israel for their kindness in gifting the transgenic plants ‘35s: SlARF10’ and ‘35s:mSlARF10’. This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Scicence Foundation of China (No. 31272153 and 31171966, 31071789), China Agricultural Research System (CARS-25), Cultivation Plan for Youth Agricultural Science and Technology Innovative Talents of Liaoning Province and "Twelfth Five Year Plan" science and technology project of Liaoning Province (2014215011).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Horticulture Department, Shenyang Agricultural University, No. 120 Dongling Road, Shenhe District, Shenyang, 110866, People’s Republic of China

      Xin Liu, Tao Xu, Xiufen Dong, Yudong Liu, Zihan Liu, Zihang Shi, Yanling Wang, Mingfang Qi & Tianlai Li

    2. Key Laboratory of Protected Horticulture of Ministry of Education, No. 120 Dongling Road, Shenhe District, 110866, People’s Republic of China

      Xin Liu, Tao Xu, Xiufen Dong, Yudong Liu, Zihan Liu, Zihang Shi, Yanling Wang, Mingfang Qi & Tianlai Li

    3. Key Laboratory of Protected Horticulture of Liaoning Province, No. 120 Dongling Road, Shenhe District, 110866, People’s Republic of China

      Xin Liu, Tao Xu, Xiufen Dong, Yudong Liu, Zihan Liu, Zihang Shi, Yanling Wang, Mingfang Qi & Tianlai Li

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    1. Xin Liu
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    Correspondence to Tianlai Li.

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    Communicated by PK Nagar.

    Xin Liu and Tao Xu contributed equally to this work.

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    Liu, X., Xu, T., Dong, X. et al. The role of gibberellins and auxin on the tomato cell layers in pericarp via the expression of ARFs regulated by miRNAs in fruit set. Acta Physiol Plant 38, 77 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-016-2091-0

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-016-2091-0

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