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Review
. 2024 Jul 25:15:1404980.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1404980. eCollection 2024.

The hormone regulatory mechanism underlying parthenocarpic fruit formation in tomato

Hongling Guan #  1   2 , Xiaolong Yang #  1 , Yuxiang Lin  1 , Baoxing Xie  3 , Xinyue Zhang  1 , Chongjian Ma  2 , Rui Xia  1 , Riyuan Chen  1 , Yanwei Hao  1
Affiliations
Review

The hormone regulatory mechanism underlying parthenocarpic fruit formation in tomato

Hongling Guan et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Parthenocarpic fruits, known for their superior taste and reliable yields in adverse conditions, develop without the need for fertilization or pollination. Exploring the physiological and molecular mechanisms behind parthenocarpic fruit development holds both theoretical and practical significance, making it a crucial area of study. This review examines how plant hormones and MADS-box transcription factors control parthenocarpic fruit formation. It delves into various aspects of plant hormones-including auxin, gibberellic acid, cytokinins, ethylene, and abscisic acid-ranging from external application to biosynthesis, metabolism, signaling pathways, and their interplay in influencing parthenocarpic fruit development. The review also explores the involvement of MADS family gene functions in these processes. Lastly, we highlight existing knowledge gaps and propose directions for future research on parthenocarpy.

Keywords: fruit set; parthenocarpy; phytohormones; seedless; tomato.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Auxin and gibberellin interactions in tomato fruit set. Prior to pollination, the SlARF7/SlIAA9 complex acts as an inhibitor of auxin signaling, while the DELLA protein binds with ARF7 when both auxin and gibberellin levels are low. Together, these proteins suppress tomato fruit set by downregulating EXP5 expression. The SlARF7/SlIAA9 complex also represses genes responsible for gibberellin production (GA20ox1 and GA3ox1), resulting in reduced gibberellin content. Following pollination, increased auxin within the fertilized ovule leads to IAA9 breakdown. Concurrently, higher gibberellin levels facilitate DELLA degradation. With both DELLA and SlIAA9 removed, ARF7 activates specific genes responsive to auxins that encourage fruit set.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The ABCDE model genes of the MADS-box family are linked to tomato parthenocarpy. Genes marked in red indicate that overexpression results in parthenocarpy, while those in blue suggest that silencing the gene induces parthenocarpy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors acknowledge financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this article. This study received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 32372716, 32202576, 31902013, and 31870286) and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (Grants No. 2023A1515012674, 2023A1515010497, 2022A1515012278, and 2021A1515010528).

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