Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) SlIPT4, encoding an isopentenyltransferase, is involved in leaf senescence and lycopene biosynthesis during fruit ripening.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Lycopene is an important carotenoid pigment in red fruits and vegetables, especially in tomato. Although lycopene biosynthesis and catabolism have been found to be regulated by multiple factors including phytohormones, little is known about their regulatory mechanism. Cytokinins are crucial to various aspects of plant growth. Isopentenyltransferases (IPTs) catalyze the initial rate-limiting step of cytokinins biosynthesis, however, their roles in fruit ripening remain unclear.

Results

Here, the functions of SlIPT4, encoding an isopentenyltransferase, were characterized via RNAi-mediated gene silencing in tomato. As we expected, silencing of SlIPT4 expression resulted in accelerated leaf senescence. However, down-expression of SlIPT4 generated never-red orange frui

SUBMITTER: Zhang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5987576 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature