A DEMETER-like DNA demethylase governs tomato fruit ripening

Ruie Liu (1) , Alexandre How-Kit (2) , Linda Stammitti (1) , Emeline Teyssier (1) , Dominique D. Rolin (1) , Anne Mortain-Bertrand (1) , Stephanie Halle (1) , Mingchun Liu (3) , Junhua Kong (4) , Chaoqun Wu (4) , Charlotte Degraeve-Guilbault (1) , Natalie H Chapman (5) , Mickael M. Maucourt (1) , T Charlie Hodgman (5) , Jorg Tost (2) , Mondher Bouzayen (3) , Yiguo Hong (4) , Graham B Seymour (5) , James J Giovannoni (6) , Philippe Gallusci (1)

1 BFP - Biologie du fruit et pathologie
2 Fondation Jean Dausset - Centre d’Étude du Polymorphisme Humain
3 GBF - Génomique et Biotechnologie des Fruits
4 Hangzhou Normal University
5 UON - University of Nottingham, UK
6 Boyce Thompson Institute [Ithaca]

In plants, genomic DNA methylation which contributes to development and stress responses can be actively removed by DEMETER-like DNA demethylases (DMLs). Indeed, in Arabidopsis DMLs are important for maternal imprinting and endosperm demethylation, but only a few studies demonstrate the developmental roles of active DNA demethylation conclusively in this plant. Here, we show a direct cause and effect relationship between active DNA demethylation mainly mediated by the tomato DML, SlDML2, and fruit ripening- an important developmental process unique to plants. RNAi SlDML2 knockdown results in ripening inhibition via hypermethylation and repression of the expression of genes encoding ripening transcription factors and rate-limiting enzymes of key biochemical processes such as carotenoid synthesis. Our data demonstrate that active DNA demethylation is central to the control of ripening in tomato.

Mots clés: fruit ripening; tomato; DNA glycosylase lyase; active DNA demethylation; epigenetic

Domaines: Biologie végétale

Ruie Liu, Alexandre How-Kit, Linda Stammitti, Emeline Teyssier, Dominique D. Rolin, et al.. A DEMETER-like DNA demethylase governs tomato fruit ripening. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015, 112 (34), pp.10804-9. ⟨10.1073/pnas.1503362112⟩. ⟨hal-02635649⟩