How Hormones and MADS-Box Transcription Factors Are Involved in Controlling Fruit Set and Parthenocarpy in Tomato
Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie, 15, 37134 Verona, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Genes 2020, 11(12), 1441; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11121441
Received: 27 October 2020
/
Revised: 23 November 2020
/
Accepted: 27 November 2020
/
Published: 30 November 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genes at Ten)
Fruit set is the earliest phase of fruit growth and represents the onset of ovary growth after successful fertilization. In parthenocarpy, fruit formation is less affected by environmental factors because it occurs in the absence of pollination and fertilization, making parthenocarpy a highly desired agronomic trait. Elucidating the genetic program controlling parthenocarpy, and more generally fruit set, may have important implications in agriculture, considering the need for crops to be adaptable to climate changes. Several phytohormones play an important role in the transition from flower to fruit. Further complexity emerges from functional analysis of floral homeotic genes. Some homeotic MADS-box genes are implicated in fruit growth and development, displaying an expression pattern commonly observed for ovary growth repressors. Here, we provide an overview of recent discoveries on the molecular regulatory gene network underlying fruit set in tomato, the model organism for fleshy fruit development due to the many genetic and genomic resources available. We describe how the genetic modification of components of this network can cause parthenocarpy, discussing the contribution of hormonal signals and MADS-box transcription factors.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
tomato; fruit set; parthenocarpy; phytohormones; MADS-box transcription factors
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
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
MDPI and ACS Style
Molesini, B.; Dusi, V.; Pennisi, F.; Pandolfini, T. How Hormones and MADS-Box Transcription Factors Are Involved in Controlling Fruit Set and Parthenocarpy in Tomato. Genes 2020, 11, 1441. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11121441
AMA Style
Molesini B, Dusi V, Pennisi F, Pandolfini T. How Hormones and MADS-Box Transcription Factors Are Involved in Controlling Fruit Set and Parthenocarpy in Tomato. Genes. 2020; 11(12):1441. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11121441
Chicago/Turabian StyleMolesini, Barbara, Valentina Dusi, Federica Pennisi, and Tiziana Pandolfini. 2020. "How Hormones and MADS-Box Transcription Factors Are Involved in Controlling Fruit Set and Parthenocarpy in Tomato" Genes 11, no. 12: 1441. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11121441
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
