Differential expression of SIKLUH controlling fruit and seed weight is associated with changes in lipid metabolism and photosynthesis-related genes

The sizes of plant organs such as fruit and seed are crucial yield components. Tomato KLUH underlies the locus fw3.2, an important regulator of fruit and seed weight. However, the mechanism by which the expression levels of KLUH affect organ size is poorly understood. We found that higher expression of SIKLUH increased cell proliferation in the pericarp within 5 d post-anthesis in tomato near-isogenic lines. Differential gene expression analyses showed that lower expression of SIKLUH was associated with increased expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism. Lipidomic analysis revealed that repression of SIKLUH mainly increased the contents of certain non-phosphorus glycerolipids and phospholipids and decreased the contents of four unknown lipids. Co-expression network analyses revealed that lipid metabolism was possibly associated with but not directly controlled by SIKLUH, and that this gene instead controls photosynthesis-related processes. In addition, many transcription factors putatively involved in the KLUH pathway were identified. Collectively, we show that SIKLUH regulates fruit and seed weight which is associated with altered lipid metabolism. The results expand our understanding of fruit and seed weight regulation and offer a valuable resource for functional studies of candidate genes putatively involved in regulation of organ size in tomato and other crops.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that SIKLUH regulates fruit and seed weight by influencing cell proliferation in tomato organs and altering lipid metabolism. Co-expression network analysis suggests that lipid metabolism is possibly associated with SIKLUH, which controls photosynthesis-related processes. These findings expand our knowledge on organ size regulation and provide valuable insights for functional studies in crop genetics.