Comprehensive Profiling of Tubby-Like Protein Expression Uncovers Ripening-Related Genes in Tomato ().

Tubby-like proteins (TLPs), which were firstly identified in obese mice, play important roles in male gametophyte development, biotic stress response, and abiotic stress responses in plants. To date, the role of genes in fruit ripening is largely unknown. Here, through a bioinformatics analysis, we identified 11 TLPs which can be divided into three subgroups in tomato (), a model plant for studying fruit development and ripening. It was shown that all SlTLPs except SlTLP11 contain both the Tub domain and F-box domain. An expression profiling analysis in different tomato tissues and developmental stages showed that 7 genes are mainly expressed in vegetative tissues, flower, and early fruit developmental stages. Interestingly, other 4 members (, , , and ) were found to be highly expressed after breaker stage, suggesting a potential role of these genes in fruit ripening. Moreover, the induced expression of and by exogenous ethylene treatment and the down expression of the two genes in ripening mutants, further support their putative role in the ripening process. Overall, our study provides a basis for further investigation of the function of TLPs in plant development and fruit ripening.