title: Virus-induced gene complementation reveals a transcription factor network in modulation of tomato fruit ripening.
abstract: Plant virus technology, in particular virus-induced gene silencing, is a widely used reverse- and forward-genetics tool in plant functional genomics. However the potential of virus technology to express genes to induce phenotypes or to complement mutants in order to understand the function of plant genes is not well documented. Here we exploit Potato virus X as a tool for virus-induced gene complementation (VIGC). Using VIGC in tomato, we demonstrated that ectopic viral expression of LeMADS-RIN, which encodes a MADS-box transcription factor (TF), resulted in functional complementation of the non-ripening rin mutant phenotype and caused fruits to ripen. Comparative gene expression analysis indicated that LeMADS-RIN up-regulated expression of the SBP-box (SQUAMOSA promoter binding protein-like) gene LeSPL-CNR, but down-regulated the expression of LeHB-1, an HD-Zip homeobox TF gene. Our data support the hypothesis that a transcriptional network may exist among key TFs in the modulation of fruit ripening in tomato.
authors.affiliation: Warwick HRI and School of Life Science, University of Warwick, Warwick, UK.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tongfei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Nongnong
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Huizhong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mingfei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Silin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Zaifeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Yule
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zirong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Giovannoni
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rolin
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gallusci
authors.forename: Yiguo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D005638:Fruit / Q000378:metabolism; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000378:metabolism*; D008715:Methionine / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D017863:Potexvirus / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors; D014764:Viral Proteins; D008715:Methionine