title: A CURLY LEAF homologue controls both vegetative and reproductive development of tomato plants.
abstract: The Enhancer of Zeste Polycomb group proteins, which are encoded by a small gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana, participate to the control of plant development. In the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), these proteins are encoded by three genes (SlEZ1, SlEZ2 and SlEZ3) that display specific expression profiles. Using a gene specific RNAi strategy, we demonstrate that repression of SlEZ2 correlates with a general reduction of H3K27me3 levels, indicating that SlEZ2 is part of an active PRC2 complex. Reduction of SlEZ2 gene expression impacts the vegetative development of tomato plants, consistent with SlEZ2 having retained at least some of the functions of the Arabidopsis CURLY LEAF (CLF) protein. Notwithstanding, we observed significant differences between transgenic SlEZ2 RNAi tomato plants and Arabidopsis clf mutants. First, we found that reduced SlEZ2 expression has dramatic effects on tomato fruit development and ripening, functions not described in Arabidopsis for the CLF protein. In addition, repression of SlEZ2 has no significant effect on the flowering time or the control of flower organ identity, in contrast to the Arabidopsis clf mutation. Taken together, our results are consistent with a diversification of the function of CLF orthologues in plants, and indicate that although partly conserved amongst plants, the function of EZ proteins need to be newly investigated for non-model plants because they might have been recruited to specific developmental processes.
authors: UMR BFP, University of Bordeaux, 71 Avenue E Bourlaux, 33882, Villenave d'Ornon, France.|Laboratory of Hematology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux - Hopital Haut Leveque, 5 Avenue Magellan, 33600, Pessac, France.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Boureau
authors: Laboratory for Functional Genomics, Foundation Jean Dausset - CEPH, 75010, Paris, France.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: How-Kit
authors: UMR BFP, University of Bordeaux, 71 Avenue E Bourlaux, 33882, Villenave d'Ornon, France.|Grape Ecophysiology and Functional Biology Laboratory, ISVV, University of Bordeaux, 210 Chemin de Leysotte, CS50008, 33882, Villenave d'Ornon Cédex, France.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Teyssier
authors: Environmental and Evolutionary Genomics Section, Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure CNRS UMR 8197INSERM U1024, 46 rue d'Ulm, 75005, Paris, France.|Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay, INRA, CNRS, Université, Paris-Sud, Université d'Evry, Université Paris-Diderot, Bâtiment 630, 91405, Orsay, France.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Drevensek
authors: Environmental and Evolutionary Genomics Section, Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure CNRS UMR 8197INSERM U1024, 46 rue d'Ulm, 75005, Paris, France.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Rainieri
authors: Laboratoire de Biogenèse Membranaire, UMR 5200, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Bâtiment A3, INRA, 71 Avenue Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon, France.|Laboratoire de Biogenèse Membranaire, UMR5200, CNRS, Bâtiment A3, INRA, 71 Avenue Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon, France.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Joubès
authors: UMR BFP, University of Bordeaux, 71 Avenue E Bourlaux, 33882, Villenave d'Ornon, France.|Grape Ecophysiology and Functional Biology Laboratory, ISVV, University of Bordeaux, 210 Chemin de Leysotte, CS50008, 33882, Villenave d'Ornon Cédex, France.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Stammitti
authors: UMR BFP, University of Bordeaux, 71 Avenue E Bourlaux, 33882, Villenave d'Ornon, France.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Pribat
authors: Environmental and Evolutionary Genomics Section, Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure CNRS UMR 8197INSERM U1024, 46 rue d'Ulm, 75005, Paris, France.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Bowler
authors: Research Centre for Plant RNA Signaling, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310036, People's Republic of China. yiguo.hong@hznu.edu.cn.|Warwick-Hangzhou RNA Signaling Joint Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Warwick, CV4 7AL, UK. yiguo.hong@hznu.edu.cn.
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Hong
authors: UMR BFP, University of Bordeaux, 71 Avenue E Bourlaux, 33882, Villenave d'Ornon, France. philippe.gallusci@bordeaux.inra.fr.|Grape Ecophysiology and Functional Biology Laboratory, ISVV, University of Bordeaux, 210 Chemin de Leysotte, CS50008, 33882, Villenave d'Ornon Cédex, France. philippe.gallusci@bordeaux.inra.fr.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Gallusci
mesh_terms: D015536:Down-Regulation; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D035264:Flowers / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D005638:Fruit / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Enhancer of zeste; Epigenetic; Fruit; Histone methyltransferase; Polycomb; Tomato