Dissecting the role of the HY5-COP1-PIF-BBX regulatory module in tomato fruit metabolism under high temperature conditions

• Grant number: 24/07515-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Pant Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Luciano Freschi
• Grantee: Geleta Dugassa Barka
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 23/08610-4 - Feeling the heat: identifying new pathways for improving fleshy fruit yield and quality under high temperature, AP.R

Abstract

Enhancing plant thermotolerance is an urgent priority to sustain global food production, ensure food security, and mitigate the impacts of climate change on agriculture. Therefore, understanding the complex regulatory networks and metabolic adjustments triggered by elevated temperatures is key to generating the critically needed climate-smart, heat-resistant crops. In this project, we aim to analyze the role of the HY5-COP1-PIF-BBX regulatory module for sensing the changes in temperature and subsequently adjusting tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit metabolism and quality traits upon exposure to high ambient temperature. Plants of loss-of-function mutants for genes encoding key components of the PIF-HY5-COP1-BBX regulatory module will be grown under optimum and high temperature conditions, and their ripe fruits will be profiled for substances related to fruit flavor, such as acid, sugar and volatiles, as well as multiple health-promoting compounds. The expression dynamics of ripening- and nutrient-related genes will also be performed in the most promising genotypes to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms behind the phenotypical changes observed among the mutant lines. We foresee this research as providing important molecular and physiological insights for improving, through biotechnology, fruit nutritional quality under heat stress in tomato and potentially other fleshy crops.