Li Dongbao, Yang Wen, Wu Zhiyue, Yang Yonghua, Wen Zhongling, Sun Bo
State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Regional Modern Agriculture & Environment Protection, Huaiyin Normal University, Huai'an 223300, China.
Hortic Res. 2024 Nov 21;12(3):uhae331. doi: 10.1093/hr/uhae331. eCollection 2025 Mar.
Timed termination of floral meristem (FM) is crucial for proper development of floral organs and fruits. In , ()- () feedback regulation maintains FM homeostasis in early stage of floral buds. It is known that the zinc finger protein SlKNUCKLES (SlKNU) functions to promote FM determinacy by directly repressing the stem cell identity gene . However, how the robust FM activity is suppressed to secure fruit development is not fully understood in tomato. Here, we demonstrate that SlKNU also directly represses the stem cell marker gene and the receptor gene for FM determinacy control. Besides, loss-of-function mutants of generated by CRISPR-Cas9 show increased fruit size of tomato. Moreover, overexpression of attenuates the activities of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) and FM in , but normal carpel development is still maintained. Hence, although the function of KNU in tomato and may diverge during evolution, the role of KNU for FM determinacy and fruit size control is conserved and may potentially be useful for enhancing fruit yield of tomato.
花分生组织（FM）的定时终止对于花器官和果实的正常发育至关重要。在[具体研究中]，（[相关分子]）-（[相关分子]）反馈调节在花芽早期维持FM的稳态。已知锌指蛋白SlKNUCKLES（SlKNU）通过直接抑制干细胞身份基因[具体基因]来促进FM的确定性。然而，在番茄中，如何抑制强大的FM活性以确保果实发育尚未完全了解。在这里，我们证明SlKNU还直接抑制干细胞标记基因[具体基因]和用于FM确定性控制的受体基因[具体基因]。此外，通过CRISPR-Cas9产生的[具体基因]功能缺失突变体显示番茄果实大小增加。此外，[具体基因]的过表达减弱了[具体植物]中茎尖分生组织（SAM）和FM的活性，但心皮发育仍保持正常。因此，尽管KNU在番茄和[具体植物]中的功能在进化过程中可能有所不同，但KNU对FM确定性和果实大小控制的作用是保守的，可能对提高番茄果实产量有潜在帮助。
