Redox Regulation of the NOR Transcription Factor Is Involved in the Regulation of Fruit Ripening in Tomato
Jiang, G.; Zeng, J.; Li, Z.; Song, Y.; Yan, H.; He, J.; Jiang, Y.; Duan, X.
Plant Physiology 183(2): 671-685
2020
ISSN/ISBN: 1532-2548
PMID: 32234754
DOI: 10.1104/pp.20.00070
Accession: 069970248
Transcription factors (TFs) are important regulators of plant growth and development and responses to stresses. TFs themselves are also prone to multiple posttranslational modifications (PTMs). However, redox-mediated PTM of TFs in plants remains poorly understood. Here, we established that NON-RIPENING (NOR), a master TF regulating tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit ripening, is a target of the Met sulfoxide reductases A and B, namely E4 and SlMsrB2, respectively, in tomato. Met oxidation in NOR, i.e. sulfoxidation, or mimicking sulfoxidation by mutating Met-138 to Gln, reduces its DNA-binding capacity and transcriptional regulatory activity in vitro. E4 and SlMsrB2 partially repair oxidized NOR and restore its DNA-binding capacity. Transgenic complementation of the nor mutant with NOR partially rescues the ripening defects. However, transformation of nor with NOR-M138Q, containing mimicked Met sulfoxidation, inhibits restoration of the fruit ripening phenotype, and this is associated with the decreased DNA-binding and transcriptional activation of a number of ripening-related genes. Taken together, these observations reveal a PTM mechanism by which Msr-mediated redox modification of NOR regulates the expression of ripening-related genes, thereby influencing tomato fruit ripening. Our report describes how sulfoxidation of TFs regulates developmental processes in plants.