Peptides interfering with protein-protein interactions in the ethylene signaling pathway delay tomato fruit ripening

 

Melanie M. A. Bisson, Mareike Kessenbrock, Lena Müller, Alexander Hofmann, Florian Schmitz, Simona M. Cristescu & Georg Groth

Science Reports
2016 vol: 6 issue: 30634 doi: 10.1038/srep30634

Abstract

The plant hormone ethylene is involved in the regulation of several processes with high importance for agricultural applications, e.g. ripening, aging and senescence. Previous work in our group has identified a small peptide (NOP-1) derived from the nuclear localization signal of the Arabidopsis ethylene regulator ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE-2 (EIN2) C-terminal part as efficient inhibitor of ethylene responses. Here, we show that NOP-1 is also able to efficiently disrupt EIN2-ETR1 complex formation in tomato, indicating that the NOP-1 inhibition mode is conserved across plant species. Surface application of NOP-1 on green tomato fruits delays ripening similar to known inhibitors of ethylene perception (MCP) and ethylene biosynthesis (AVG). Fruits treated with NOP-1 showed similar ethylene production as untreated controls underlining that NOP-1 blocks ethylene signaling by targeting an essential interaction in this pathway, while having no effect on ethylene biosynthesis.

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Topics: Biochemistry, Biophysical chemistry, Plant signalling, Monolith – MicroScale Thermophoresis, MST, Proteins, Publications

 

 

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New insights in plant science
New insights in plant science

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