Histone deacetylase SlHDA7 impacts fruit ripening and shelf life in tomato.

Fruit ripening depends on the accurate control of ripening-related genes expression, with histone deacetylases (HDACs) playing crucial roles in transcriptional regulation. However, the functions of HDACs in fruit maturation remain largely unexplored. Here, we show that SlHDA7 acts as a suppressor of fruit ripening and functions as an H4ac HDAC in tomato. Deletion of accelerated fruit ripening, while overexpression of delayed the maturation process. Additionally, ethylene production and carotenoid biosynthesis significantly increased in mutant fruits but decreased in -overexpressing fruits. Furthermore, SlHDA7 repress the expression of ethylene production and signaling, carotenoid metabolism, cell wall modification, and transcriptional regulation-related genes. RT-qPCR and ChIP-qPCR analyses indicated that SlHDA7 may deacetylate H4ac, leading to reduced transcript levels of , , and mRNA, consequently suppressing fruit ripening. Moreover, SlHDA7 suppresses fruit ripening by targeting specific ripening-associated transcription factors (TFs) like , , and , ultimately leading to delayed ripening and prolonged fruit shelf life. In summary, our findings indicate that SlHDA7 negatively modulates tomato fruit maturation by adjusting H4ac levels of these ripening-associated genes and key TFs.