Phytoene synthases 1 modulates tomato fruit quality through influencing the metabolic flux between carotenoid and flavonoid pathways

The deterioration in fruit quality of commercial tomatoes is a major concern of modern tomato breeding.However,the metabolism and genetics of fruit quality are poorly understood.Here,we performed transgenic and molecular biology experiments to reveal that tomato phytoene synthase 1(SlPSY1)is responsible for the accumulation of an important flavor chemical,6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one(MHO).To dissect the function of SlPSY1 in regulating fruit quality,we generated and analyzed a dataset encompassing over 2000 compounds detected by GC-MS and LC-MS/MS along with transcriptomic data.The combined results illustrated that SlPSY1 deficiency imparts novel flavor to yellow tomatoes with 236 volatiles significantly changed and improves fruit firmness,possibly due to accumulation of seven cutins.Further analysis indicated SlPSY1 is essential for carotenoid-derived metabolite biosynthesis by catalyzing prephytoene-PP(PPPP)to 15-cis-phytoene.Notably,we showed that SlPSY1 can influence the metabolic flux between carotenoid and flavonoid pathways,and this metabolic flux was confirmed by silencing SlCHS1.Our study provided insights into the multiple effects of SlPSY1 on tomato fruit metabolome and highlights the potential to produce high-quality fruit by rational design of SlPSY1 expression.

Phytoene Synthase Gene Cloning from Citrus sinensis Osbeck cv. Cara Cara and Its Prokaryotic Expression

Using the mRNA from the fruit of Cara Cara as the template, the cDNA of phytoene synthase （PSY） gene was amplified by reverse transcription polymerse chain reaction （RT-PCR）. Sequence analysis indicated that the cDNA was of 1 520 bp, which had an open reading frame of 1 308 bp and encoded a protein of 436 amino acids. The homology analysis showed that PSY of Cara Cara shared high similarities of nucleotides and deduced amino acids with those in other plants up to more than 75 and 70%, respectively. A putative signal transit peptide for plastid targeting was found in the N-terminal region of PSY. The mature forms of PSY included a transmembrane （TM） domain. The recombinant plasmid pET-CitPSY was constructed by subcloning the full coding sequence of PSY cDNA into pET-28 （＋）. After transformation of E. coli BL21 and induced by 1 mmol L^-1 isopropyl-β-D-thiogalacropyranoside （IPTG）, the fusion protein （6× His-PSY） with 52 kD was produced at a high level by prokaryotic expression system. The results of Western blot demonstrated that the fusion protein （6× His-PSY） could be recognized by anti-6 × His monoclonal antibody. The study could establish a basis for molecular improvement of Citrus fruit colors.

Clp Protease and OR Directly Control the Proteostasis of Phytoene Synthase, the Crucial Enzyme for Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis

Phytoene synthase （PSY） is the crucial plastidial enzyme in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway. However, its post-translational regulation remains elusive. Likewise, Clp protease constitutes a central part of the plastid protease network, but its substrates for degradation are not well known. In this study, we report that PSY is a substrate of the Clp protease. PSY was uncovered to physically interact with various Clp protease subunits （i.e., ClpS1, CIpC1, and CIpD）. High levels of PSY and several other carotenogenic enzyme proteins overac- cumulate in the clpcl, clpp4, and clprl-2 mutants. The overaccumulated PSY was found to be partially enzy- matically active. Impairment of Clp activity in clpcl results in a reduced rate of PSY protein turnover, further supporting the role of Clp protease in degrading PSY protein. On the other hand, the ORANGE （OR） protein, a major post-translational regulator of PSY with holdase chaperone activity, enhances PSY protein stability and increases the enzymatically active proportion of PSY in clpcl, counterbalancing CIp-mediated proteol- ysis in maintaining PSY protein homeostasis. Collectively, these findings provide novel insights into the qual- ity control of plastid-localized proteins and establish a hitherto unidentified post-translational regulatory mechanism of carotenogenic enzymes in modulating carotenoid biosynthesis in plants.