Open AccessThe Tomato DOF Daily Fluctuations 1, TDDF1 acts as flowering accelerator and protector against various stresses
Author(s) -
Mohamed Ewas,
Eman Khames,
Khurram Ziaf,
Raheel Shahzad,
Elsayed Nishawy,
Farhan Ali,
Hizar Subthain,
Mohamed Hamdy Amar,
Mohammed Ayaad,
Omran Ghaly,
Jie Luo
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-10399-7
Subject(s) - photoperiodism , biology , circadian clock , circadian rhythm , gene , adaptation (eye) , regulator , crop , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , genetics , agronomy , endocrinology , neuroscience
Adaptation to environmental changes is an important fitness trait for crop development. Photoperiod is an essential factor in seasonal control of flowering time. Sensing of day-length requires an interaction between the Photoperiod and the endogenous rhythms that is controlled by plant circadian clock. Thus, circadian clock is a critical regulator and internal molecular time-keeping mechanism, controlling key agricultural traits in crop plants such as the ability to adjust their growth and physiology to anticipate diurnal environmental changes. Here, we describe the gene Tomato Dof Daily Fluctuations 1 ( TDDF1 ), which is involved in circadian regulation and stress resistance. Large daily oscillations in TDDF1 expression were retained after transferring to continuous dark (DD) or light (LL) conditions. Interestingly, overexpressing TDDF1 induce early flowering in tomato through up-regulation of the flowering-time control genes, moreover, by protein-protein interaction with the floral inducer SFT gene. Notably, overexpressing TDDF1 in tomato was associated with chlorophyll overaccumulation by up-regulating the related biosynthetic genes. TDDF1 expression results in improved drought, salt, various hormones stress tolerance alongwith resistance to late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans . This study can be a distinctive strategy to improve other economically important crops.