title: FaPYR1 is involved in strawberry fruit ripening.
abstract: Although the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) has been suggested to play a role in the ripening of non-climatic fruit, direct genetic/molecular evidence is lacking. In the present study, a strawberry gene homologous to the Arabidopsis ABA receptor gene PYR1, named FaPYR1, was isolated and characterized. The 627 bp cDNA includes an intact open reading frame that encodes a deduced protein of 208 amino acids, in which putative conserved domains were detected by homology analysis. Using tobacco rattle virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS), the FaPYR1 gene was silenced in strawberry fruit. Down-regulation of the FaPYR1 gene not only significantly delayed fruit ripening, but also markedly altered ABA content, ABA sensitivity, and a set of ABA-responsive gene transcripts, including ABI1 and SnRK2. Furthermore, the loss of red colouring in FaPYR1 RNAi (RNA interference) fruits could not be rescued by exogenously applied ABA, which could promote the ripening of wild-type fruits. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the putative ABA receptor FaPYR1 acts as a positive regulator in strawberry fruit ripening. It was also revealed that the application of the VIGS technique in strawberry fruit could be used as a novel tool for studying strawberry fruit development.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of New Technology in Agricultural Application, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, No. 7 Beinong Road, Changping District, Beijing 102206, PR China.
authors.forename: Ye-Mao
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: Hai-Feng
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Chun-Li
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qing-Hua
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Yuan-Yue
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D031985:Fragaria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D005638:Fruit / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D000040:Abscisic Acid