SlPti4 Affects Regulation of Fruit Ripening, Seed Germination and Stress Responses by Modulating ABA Signaling in Tomato

Although the role of the ethylene response factor (ERF) Pti4 in disease resistance has been demonstrated in higher plants, it is presently unknown whether the tomato SlPti4 protein plays a role in the regulation of fruit development and the stress response. Here, we show that SlPti4 is involved in the regulation of fruit ripening, seed germination, and responses to drought and Botrytis cinerea infection through adjustments to ABA metabolism and signaling. SlPti4 gene expression is very low early in fruit development, but increases rapidly during ripening and can be induced by exogenous ABA and 1-aminocyclopropane 1-carboxylate (ACC). RNA interference (RNAi)-induced silencing of SlPti4 leads to an increase of ABA accumulation together with a decrease of ethylene release, which causes the high expression level of SlBcyc, and thus the transgenic fruit is orange instead of red as in wild-type fruit during ripening. SlPti4-RNAi seeds accumulate less ABA and mRNA for ABA receptor SlPYL genes, which causes insensitivity to ABA treatment. SlPti4-RNAi transgenic plants with low ABA levels and high ethylene release were more sensitive to drought stress. SlPti4-RNAi plants also showed weaker resistance to B. cinerea infection than the wild type. Thus, SlPti4 is an important regulator of tomato fruit ripening, seed germination and abiotic/biotic stress responses. This study expands our knowledge on diverse plant physiologies which are regulated by ABA signaling and the function of SlPti4.