Wen, C.; Luo, T.; He, Z.; Li, Y.; Yan, J.; Xu, W. Regulation of Tomato Fruit Autophagic Flux and Promotion of Fruit Ripening by the Autophagy-Related Gene SlATG8f. Plants2023, 12, 3339.
Wen, C.; Luo, T.; He, Z.; Li, Y.; Yan, J.; Xu, W. Regulation of Tomato Fruit Autophagic Flux and Promotion of Fruit Ripening by the Autophagy-Related Gene SlATG8f. Plants 2023, 12, 3339.
Wen, C.; Luo, T.; He, Z.; Li, Y.; Yan, J.; Xu, W. Regulation of Tomato Fruit Autophagic Flux and Promotion of Fruit Ripening by the Autophagy-Related Gene SlATG8f. Plants2023, 12, 3339.
Wen, C.; Luo, T.; He, Z.; Li, Y.; Yan, J.; Xu, W. Regulation of Tomato Fruit Autophagic Flux and Promotion of Fruit Ripening by the Autophagy-Related Gene SlATG8f. Plants 2023, 12, 3339.
Abstract
Autophagy is a highly conserved self-degradation process involving the degradation and recycling of cellular components and organelles. Although the involvement of autophagy in metabolic changes during fruit ripening has been preliminarily demonstrated, the variations in autophagic flux and specific functional roles in fruit ripening remain to be elucidated. In this study, we analyzed the occurrence of autophagy during tomato fruit ripening. The results revealed differential expression of SlATG8 family member during tomato fruit ripening. Transmission electron microscopy observations and dansylcadaverine (MDC) staining confirmed the presence of autophagy at the cellular level in tomato fruits. Furthermore, the overexpression of SlATG8f induced the formation of autophagosomes, increased autophagic flux within tomato fruits, effectively enhanced the expression of ATG8 proteins during the color transition phase of fruit ripening, thereby promoting tomato fruit maturation. This overexpression also led to the accumulation of vitamin C (VC) and soluble solids while reducing acidity in the fruit. Collectively, our findings highlight the pivotal role of SlATG8f in enhancing tomato fruit ripening, providing insights into the mechanistic involvement of autophagy in this process. This research contributes to a better understanding of key factors regulating tomato fruit quality and offers a theoretical basis for tomato variety improvement.
Keywords
autophagy; fruit ripening; autophagic flux; protein expression
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Horticulture
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
