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Transcriptome analysis reveals regulatory effects of exogenous gibberellin on locule number in tomato

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Abstract

The size and shape of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit are determined by locule number. Gibberellin (GA) can increase locule number in tomato, but the underlying molecular mechanism is unclear. Therefore, in this study, multi-locule ‘MLK1’ tomato seedlings with two to three true leaves (pre-flower bud differentiation) were sprayed with GA1, GA3, GA4, GA7, PAC (paclobutrazol; an inhibitor of GA biosynthesis) and H2O, as a control. We found that GA4 resulted in was the most significant increase in tomato locule number among all bioactive GAs, while PAC decreased the locule number. We analyzed the change in locule number by RNA-seq, quantitative real-time PCR and ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The categories ‘Phenylpropanoid biosynthesis’, ‘Plant hormone signal transduction’, and ‘Diterpenoid biosynthesis’ were considerably activated after spraying with GA4. Additionally, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) content significantly increased and trans-Zeatin-riboside (tZ) content significantly reduced after exogenous GA4 application. We conclude that exogenous GA4 application changed the dynamic balance of hormones in the tomato shoot apex. Furthermore, 53 differentially expressed transcription factors were identified in tomato upon exogenous GA4 treatment during floral bud differentiation, including, YABBYs, TCP, NAC, and ARR (some directly regulate lateral organ development). Our results provide novel insights into how exogenous GA4 affects plant hormone homeostasis in the tomato shoot apex and the underlying mechanism of locule number regulation by GA4 in tomato.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31972397, U1708232), China Agriculture Research System (Grant No. CARS-25), and the Shenyang Scientific Research Project (18-013-0-36, RC180123).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Horticulture, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Northern Horticultural Facilities Design & Application Technology (Liaoning), Key Laboratory of Protected Horticulture of Education Ministry and Liaoning Province, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, 110866, China

    Yanbing Li, Meihua Sun, Hengzuo Xiang, Sida Meng, Bo Wang, Mingfang Qi & Tianlai Li

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  1. Yanbing Li
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  7. Tianlai Li
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Contributions

YL designed and carried out the experiments, analyzed the results, and wrote the manuscript. MS, HX, SM and BW provided scientific advice, and revised the manuscript. MQ and TL conceived the research area, provided scientific advice, and supervised the project.

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Correspondence to Mingfang Qi or Tianlai Li.

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Table S1

The raw data of locule number investigation (XLSX 9.6 kb)

Table S2

The DEGs identified in GA4 vs. CK and PAC vs. CK (XLSX 89.1 kb)

Table S3

Gene Ontology analysis of DEGs in of GA4(100 µM), PAC (100 µM), and H2O treatments DEGs were annotated in three main categories: biological process, cellular component, and molecular function (DOCX 19.2 kb)

Table S4

Expression level and fold change of genes in RNA-seq (XLSX 10.8 kb)

Table S5

The raw data of qRT-PCR validation (XLSX 11.2 kb)

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Li, Y., Sun, M., Xiang, H. et al. Transcriptome analysis reveals regulatory effects of exogenous gibberellin on locule number in tomato. Plant Growth Regul 91, 407–417 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-020-00614-3

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