title: The WD-Repeat Protein CsTTG1 Regulates Fruit Wart Formation through Interaction with the Homeodomain-Leucine Zipper I Protein Mict.
abstract: The cucumber (Cucumis sativus) fruit is covered with bloom trichomes and warts (composed of spines and tubercules), which have an important impact on the commercial value of the crop. However, little is known about the regulatory mechanism underlying their formation. Here, we reported that the cucumber WD-repeat homolog CsTTG1, which is localized in the nucleus and cytomembrane, plays an important role in the formation of cucumber fruit bloom trichomes and warts. Functional characterization of CsTTG1 revealed that it is mainly expressed in the epidermis of cucumber ovary and that its overexpression in cucumber alters the density of fruit bloom trichomes and spines, thereby promoting the warty fruit trait. Conversely, silencing CsTTG1 expression inhibits the initiation of fruit spines. Molecular and genetic analyses showed that CsTTG1 acts in parallel to Mict/CsGL1, a key trichome formation factor, to regulate the initiation of fruit trichomes, including fruit bloom trichomes and spines, and that the further differentiation of fruit spines and formation of tubercules regulated by CsTTG1 is dependent on Mict Using yeast two-hybrid assay and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assay, we determined that CsTTG1 directly interacts with Mict. Collectively, our results indicate that CsTTG1 is an important component of the molecular network that regulates fruit bloom trichome and wart formation in cucumber.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chunhua
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3796-5661
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xingwang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Sen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shudan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yanling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Kezia
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3451-9666
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Huiling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Mingming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yaqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Binyu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R. China renhuazhong@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huazhong
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4169-7572
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D002452:Cell Count; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018553:Cucumis sativus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics; D005638:Fruit / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D016350:Leucine Zippers; D008954:Models, Biological; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011485:Protein Binding; D021381:Protein Transport; D034622:RNA Interference; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000378:metabolism; D064201:Trichomes / Q000378:metabolism; D000071678:WD40 Repeats
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins