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SUMMARY: Saline‐alkali stress is an important abiotic stress factor affecting tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plant growth. Although the involvement of the tomato SlWRKY gene family in responses to saline‐alkali stress has been well established, the mechanism underlying resistance to saline‐alkali stress remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of SlWRKY81 in conferring saline‐alkali stress resistance by using overexpression and knockout tomato seedlings obtained via genetic modification. We demonstrated that SlWRKY81 improves the ability of tomato to withstand saline‐alkali stress by enhancing antioxidant capacity, root activity, and proline content while reducing malondialdehyde levels. Saline‐alkali stress induces an increase in jasmonic acid (JA) content in tomato seedlings, and the SlWRKY81 promoter responds to JA signaling, leading to an increase in SlWRKY81 expression. Furthermore, the interaction between SlJAZ1 and SlWRKY81 represses the expression of SlWRKY81. SlWRKY81 binds to W‐box motifs in the promoter regions of SlSPDS2 and SlNHX4, thereby positively regulating their expression. This regulation results in increased spermidine (Spd) content and enhanced potassium (K+) absorption and sodium (Na+) efflux, which contribute to the resistance of tomato to saline‐alkali stress. However, JA and SlJAZ1 exhibit antagonistic effects. Elevated JA content reduces the inhibitory effect of SlJAZ1 on SlWRKY81, leading to the release of additional SlWRKY81 protein and further augmenting the resistance of tomato to saline‐alkali stress. In summary, the modulation of Spd synthesis and Na+/K+ homeostasis mediated by the interaction between SlWRKY81 and SlJAZ1 represents a novel pathway underlying tomato response to saline‐alkali stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DC1 (Divergent C1) domain proteins are a new class of proteins that have been discovered in recent years, which play an important role in plant growth, development, and stress response. In order to better study the distribution and function of DC1 domain proteins in tomatoes, a genome-wide identification was conducted. It was found that there are twenty-one DC1 domain protein genes distributed on nine chromosomes of tomatoes, named SlCHP1-21. Phylogenetic analysis shows that twenty-one SlCHP genes are divided into six subfamilies. Most of the SlCHP genes in tomatoes have no or very short introns. All SlCHP proteins, with the exception of SlCHP8 and SlCHP17, contain variable amounts of C1 domain. Analysis of the SlCHP gene promoter sequence revealed multiple cis-elements responsive to plant stress. qRT-CR analysis showed that most members of SlCHP gene expressed in the roots. The SlCHP11, 13, 16, 17, and SlCHP20 genes showed specific responses to high temperature, low temperature, salt, and drought stress. In addition, the subcellular localization and interaction proteins of SlCHP were analyzed and predicted. Together, these results provides a theoretical basis for further exploration of the function and mechanism of the SlCHP gene in tomatoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plant hormone ethylene is essential for climacteric fruit ripening, although it is unclear how other phytohormones and their interactions with ethylene might affect fruit ripening. Here, we explored how brassinosteroids (BRs) regulate fruit ripening in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and how they interact with ethylene. Exogenous BR treatment and increased endogenous BR contents in tomato plants overexpressing the BR biosynthetic gene SlCYP90B3 promoted ethylene production and fruit ripening. Genetic analysis indicated that the BR signaling regulators Brassinazole‐resistant1 (SlBZR1) and BRI1‐EMS‐suppressor1 (SlBES1) act redundantly in fruit softening. Knocking out SlBZR1 inhibited ripening through transcriptome reprogramming at the onset of ripening. Combined transcriptome deep sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing identified 73 SlBZR1‐repressed targets and 203 SlBZR1‐induced targets involving major ripening‐related genes, suggesting that SlBZR1 positively regulates tomato fruit ripening. SlBZR1 directly targeted several ethylene and carotenoid biosynthetic genes to contribute to the ethylene burst and carotenoid accumulation to ensure normal ripening and quality formation. Furthermore, knock‐out of Brassinosteroid‐insensitive2 (SlBIN2), a negative regulator of BR signaling upstream of SlBZR1, promoted fruit ripening and carotenoid accumulation. Taken together, our results highlight the role of SlBZR1 as a master regulator of tomato fruit ripening with potential for tomato quality improvement and carotenoid biofortification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saline-alkali stress is a widely distributed abiotic stress that severely limits plant growth. γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) accumulates rapidly in plants under saline-alkali stress, but the underlying molecular mechanisms and associated regulatory networks remain unclear. Here, we report a MYB-like protein, I-box binding factor (SlMYBI), which positively regulates saline-alkali tolerance through induced GABA accumulation by directly modulating the glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) gene SlGAD1 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Overexpression of SlGAD1 increased GABA levels and decreased reactive oxygen species accumulation under saline-alkali stress, while silencing of SlGAD1 further suggested that SlGAD1 plays an active role in GABA synthesis and saline-alkali tolerance of tomato. In addition, we found that SlMYBI activates SlGAD1 transcription. Both overexpression of SlMYBI and editing of SlMYBI using CRISPR-Cas9 showed that SlMYBI regulates GABA synthesis by modulating SlGAD1 expression. Furthermore, the interaction of SlNF-YC1 with SlMYBI enhanced the transcriptional activity of SlMYBI on SlGAD1 to further improve saline-alkali tolerance in tomato. Interestingly, we found that ethylene signaling was involved in the GABA response to saline-alkali stress by RNA-seq analysis of SlGAD1-overexpressing lines. This study elucidates the involvement of SlMYBI in GABA synthesis regulation. Specifically, the SlMYBI-SlNF-YC1 module is involved in GABA accumulation in response to saline-alkali stress., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Saline-alkali stress is an important abiotic stress factor affecting tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plant growth. Although the involvement of the tomato SlWRKY gene family in responses to saline-alkali stress has been well established, the mechanism underlying resistance to saline-alkali stress remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of SlWRKY81 in conferring saline-alkali stress resistance by using overexpression and knockout tomato seedlings obtained via genetic modification. We demonstrated that SlWRKY81 improves the ability of tomato to withstand saline-alkali stress by enhancing antioxidant capacity, root activity, and proline content while reducing malondialdehyde levels. Saline-alkali stress induces an increase in jasmonic acid (JA) content in tomato seedlings, and the SlWRKY81 promoter responds to JA signaling, leading to an increase in SlWRKY81 expression. Furthermore, the interaction between SlJAZ1 and SlWRKY81 represses the expression of SlWRKY81. SlWRKY81 binds to W-box motifs in the promoter regions of SlSPDS2 and SlNHX4, thereby positively regulating their expression. This regulation results in increased spermidine (Spd) content and enhanced potassium (K + ) absorption and sodium (Na + ) efflux, which contribute to the resistance of tomato to saline-alkali stress. However, JA and SlJAZ1 exhibit antagonistic effects. Elevated JA content reduces the inhibitory effect of SlJAZ1 on SlWRKY81, leading to the release of additional SlWRKY81 protein and further augmenting the resistance of tomato to saline-alkali stress. In summary, the modulation of Spd synthesis and Na + /K + homeostasis mediated by the interaction between SlWRKY81 and SlJAZ1 represents a novel pathway underlying tomato response to saline-alkali stress., (© 2024 Society for Experimental Biology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)