Apple TIME FOR COFFEE contributes to freezing tolerance by promoting unsaturation of fatty acids

•MdTIC is a target of R2R3 transcription factor MdMYB88 and MdMYB124.•Disruption of MdTIC reduced apple freezing tolerance.•MdTIC regulates plant cold tolerance by mediating the expression of cold-responsive genes and fatty acid composition. Freezing stress is a major environmental factor that threa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant science (Limerick) 2021-01, Vol.302, p.110695-110695, Article 110695
Main Authors: Zhao, Caide, Liu, Xiaofang, He, Jieqiang, Xie, Yinpeng, Xu, Yao, Ma, Fengwang, Guan, Qingmei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apple (Malus × domestica)
Cold-Shock Response
Fatty acid
Fatty Acids - metabolism
Freezing
Freezing tolerance
Gene expression
Malus - genetics
Malus - metabolism
MdTIC
Plant Proteins - genetics
Plant Proteins - physiology
Plants, Genetically Modified
Transcription Factors - genetics
Transcription Factors - physiology
Transcriptome
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:•MdTIC is a target of R2R3 transcription factor MdMYB88 and MdMYB124.•Disruption of MdTIC reduced apple freezing tolerance.•MdTIC regulates plant cold tolerance by mediating the expression of cold-responsive genes and fatty acid composition. Freezing stress is a major environmental factor that threatens the growth and development of fruit trees. MdMYB88 and its paralogue MdMYB124 have been identified as pivotal regulators in apple (Malus × domestica) freezing stress tolerance. Here, we demonstrated that a target of MdMYB88 and MdMYB124, TIME FOR COFFEE (TIC), contributes to freezing tolerance in apple. MdMYB88 and MdMYB124 directly bound the MdTIC promoter and positively regulated its expression under cold conditions. MdTIC RNAi plants displayed reduced freezing tolerance when MdTIC expression was repressed. Moreover, MdTIC RNAi plants lowered antioxidant enzyme activity. Transcriptome profiling revealed altered expression of cold-responsive genes in MdTIC RNAi plants under cold conditions, including MdPLC2, MdMKK2, and MdICE1. We also discovered that disordered MdTIC expression changed the saturation of fatty acids. Taken together, our data suggest that MdTIC is required for apple to tolerate freezing by mediating the expression of cold-responsive genes and fatty acid composition.
ISSN:0168-9452
1873-2259
DOI:10.1016/j.plantsci.2020.110695