Regulation of tomato fruit pericarp development by an interplay between CDKB and CDKA1 cell cycle genes

• Published in: Journal of experimental botany Vol. 63; no. 7; pp. 2605 - 2617
• Main Authors: CZEREDNIK, Anna, BUSSCHER, Marco, BIELEN, Bram A. M, WOLTERS-ARTS, Mieke, DE MAAGD, Ruud A, ANGENENT, Gerco C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01.04.2012
• Subjects: arabidopsis; Biological and medical sciences; Cyclin-Dependent Kinases - genetics; Cyclin-Dependent Kinases - metabolism; dependent kinase; division; endoreduplicating cells; expression; Fruit - enzymology; Fruit - genetics; Fruit - growth & development; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes, cdc; growth; Lycopersicon esculentum; lycopersicon-esculentum mill; Plant physiology and development; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; plants; protein; Research Papers; rich; Solanum lycopersicum - enzymology; Solanum lycopersicum - genetics; Solanum lycopersicum - growth & development; fruit development; mutants; Fruit vegetable; Tomato; Vegetable crop; Gene; Cell cycle genes; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Botany; Cell cycle; Lycopersicon esculentum; Pericarp; Spermatophyta; Solanaceae; Mutation; Fructification
• ISSN: 0022-0957; 1460-2431
• DOI: 10.1093/jxb/err451

Growth of tomato fruits is determined by cell division and cell expansion, which are tightly controlled by factors that drive the core cell cycle. The cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and their interacting partners, the cyclins, play a key role in the progression of the cell cycle. In this study the role of CDKA1, CDKB1, and CDKB2 in fruit development was characterized by fruit-specific overexpression and down-regulation. CDKA1 is expressed in the pericarp throughout development, but is strongly up-regulated in the outer pericarp cell layers at the end of the growth period, when CDKB gene expression has ceased. Overexpression of the CDKB genes at later stages of development and the down-regulation of CDKA1 result in a very similar fruit phenotype, showing a reduction in the number of cell layers in the pericarp and alterations in the desiccation of the fruits. Expression studies revealed that CDKA1 is down-regulated by the expression of CDKB1/2 in CDKB1 and CDKB2 overexpression mutants, suggesting opposite roles for these types of CDK proteins in tomato pericarp development.