Characterization of gibberellin-signalling elements during plum fruit ontogeny defines the essentiality of gibberellin in fruit development

Fruit growth is a coordinated, complex interaction of cell division, differentiation and expansion. Gibberellin (GA) involvement in the reproductive events is an important aspect of GA effects. Perennial fruit-trees such as plum (Prunus salicina L.) have distinct features that are economically important and provide opportunities to dissect specific GA mechanisms. Currently, very little is known on the molecular mechanism(s) mediating GA effects on fruit development. Determination of bioactive GA content during plum fruit ontogeny revealed that GA(1) and GA(4) are critical for fruit growth and development. Further, characterization of several genes involved in GA-signalling showed that their transcriptional regulation are generally GA-dependent, confirming their involvement in GA-signalling. Based on these results, a model is presented elucidating how the potential association between GA and other hormones may contribute to fruit development. PslGID1 proteins structure, Y2H and BiFC assays indicated that plum GA-receptors can form a complex with AtDELLA-repressors in a GA-dependent manner. Moreover, phenotypical-, molecular- and GA-analyses of various Arabidopsis backgrounds ectopically expressing PslGID1 sequences provide evidence on their role as active GA-signalling components that mediate GA-responsiveness. Our findings support the critical contribution of GA alone or in association with other hormones in mediating plum fruit growth and development.