Nuclear factor Y-A3b binds to the SINGLE FLOWER TRUSS promoter and regulates flowering time in tomato

Abstract

The control of flowering time is essential for reproductive success and has a major effect on seed and fruit yield and other important agricultural traits in crops. Nuclear factors Y (NF-Ys) are transcription factors that form heterotrimeric protein complexes to regulate gene expression required for diverse biological processes, including flowering time control in plants. However, to our knowledge, there has been no report on mutants of individual NF-YA subunits that promote early flowering phenotype in plants. In this study, we identified SlNF-YA3b, encoding a member of the NF-Y transcription factor family, as a key gene regulating flowering time in tomato. Knockout of NF-YA3b resulted in an early flowering phenotype in tomato, whereas overexpression of NF-YA3b delayed flowering in transgenic tomato plants. NF-YA3b was demonstrated to form heterotrimeric protein complexes with multiple NF-YB/NF-YC heterodimers in yeast three-hybrid assays. Biochemical evidence indicated that NF-YA3b directly binds to the CCAAT cis-elements of the SINGLE FLOWER TRUSS (SFT) promoter to suppress its gene expression. These findings uncovered a critical role of NF-YA3b in regulating flowering time in tomato and could be applied to the management of flowering time in crops.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32272743), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangxi (GuikeAA22068088-1), the Science and Technology Major Project of Zhumadian (ZMDSZDZX2022005), and the earmarked fund for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-23-A13).

Author contributions

D.Z., K.J., J.W., X.L., Z.Z., R.H., G.A., X.W., T.W., Z.H., Z.Y., Y.L., and J.Z designed the experiments. D.Z., K.J., J.W., X.L., Z.Z., and R.H. conducted the experiments and analyzed the data. D.Z. and J.Z wrote the manuscript. D.Z., J.W., Y.L., X.W., T.W., Y.L., Z.H., Z.Y., and J.Z revised the manuscript.

Data availability

The data on which this article is based can be found in this article and its online supplement. The sequences of the genes presented in this study can be accessed in the Sol Genomics Network (http://solgenomics.net/) under the following accession numbers: SlNF-YA3b, Solyc12g009050; SlNF-YA1a, Solyc01g008490; SlNF-YA1b, Solyc11g065700; SlNF-YA3a, Solyc03g121940; SlNF-YA7a, Solyc02g069860; SlNF-YA7b, Solyc10g079150; SlNF-YA8, Solyc08g062210; SlNF-YA9, Solyc01g087240; SlNF-YA10a, Solyc01g006930; SlNF-YA10b, Solyc10g081840; SlNF-YB3a, solyc04g054150; SlNF-YB3b, solyc07g065500; SlNF-YB3c, solyc12g006120; SlNF-YC1a, solyc03g110860; SlNF-YC1b, solyc03g111450; SlNF-YC1d, solyc06g072040; SlNF-YC9, solyc01g079870; SFT, Solyc03g063100; Actin, Solyc11g005330. The protein sequences used for multiple sequence alignment analysis are listed in Supplementary Data Table S2.

Conflict of interest

The authors state that there is no conflict of interest.

Supplementary data

Supplementary data are available at Horticulture Research online.

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