Role of ethylene response factors (ERFs) in fruit ripening

Abstract The ethylene response factors (ERFs) belong to the APETALA2/ethylene response factor (AP2/ERF) superfamily and act downstream of the ethylene signalling pathway to regulate the expression of ethylene responsive genes. In different species, ERFs have been reported to be involved in plant development, flower abscission, fruit ripening, and defense responses. In this review, based on the new progress made by recent studies, we summarize the specific role and mode of action of ERFs in regulating different aspects of ripening in both climacteric and non-climacteric fruits, and provide new insights into the role of ethylene in non-climacteric fruit ripening.

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Identification of EIL and ERF Genes Related to Fruit Ripening in Peach

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms21082846 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (8) ◽

pp. 2846 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hui Zhou ◽

Lei Zhao ◽

Qiurui Yang ◽

Mohamed Hamdy Amar ◽

Collins Ogutu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fruit Ripening ◽

Prunus Persica ◽

Gene Families ◽

Ethylene Biosynthesis ◽

Ethylene Response Factor ◽

Climacteric Fruit ◽

Ethylene Response ◽

Ear Motif ◽

Softening Process ◽

Insight Into

Peach (Prunus persica) is a climacteric fruit with a relatively short shelf life due to its fast ripening or softening process. Here, we report the association of gene families encoding ethylene insensitive-3 like (EIL) and ethylene response factor (ERF) with fruit ripening in peach. In total, 3 PpEILs and 12 PpERFs were highly expressed in fruit, with the majority showing a peak of expression at different stages. All three EILs could activate ethylene biosynthesis genes PpACS1 and PpACO1. One out of the 12 PpERFs, termed PpERF.E2, is a homolog of ripening-associated ERFs in tomato, with a consistently high expression throughout fruit development and an ability to activate PpACS1 and PpACO1. Additionally, four subgroup F PpERFs harboring the EAR repressive motif were able to repress the PpACO1 promoter but could also activate the PpACS1 promoter. Promoter deletion assay revealed that PpEILs and PpERFs could participate in transcriptional regulation of PpACS1 through either direct or indirect interaction with various cis-elements. Taken together, these results suggested that all three PpEILs and PpERF.E2 are candidates involved in ethylene biosynthesis, and EAR motif-containing PpERFs may function as activator or repressor of ethylene biosynthesis genes in peach. Our study provides an insight into the roles of EILs and ERFs in the fruit ripening process.

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Banana ethylene response factors are involved in fruit ripening through their interactions with ethylene biosynthesis genes

Journal of Experimental Botany ◽

10.1093/jxb/ert108 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 64 (8) ◽

pp. 2499-2510 ◽

Cited By ~ 80

Author(s):

Yun-yi Xiao ◽

Jian-ye Chen ◽

Jiang-fei Kuang ◽

Wei Shan ◽

Hui Xie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fruit Ripening ◽

Ethylene Biosynthesis ◽

Response Factors ◽

Ethylene Response ◽

Ethylene Response Factors

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MdERFs, two ethylene-response factors involved in apple fruit ripening

Journal of Experimental Botany ◽

10.1093/jxb/erm224 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 58 (13) ◽

pp. 3743-3748 ◽

Cited By ~ 82

Author(s):

A. Wang ◽

D. Tan ◽

A. Takahashi ◽

T. Zhong Li ◽

T. Harada

Keyword(s):

Fruit Ripening ◽

Apple Fruit ◽

Response Factors ◽

Ethylene Response ◽

Ethylene Response Factors

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An ERF Transcription Factor Gene from Malus baccata (L.) Borkh, MbERF11, Affects Cold and Salt Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11050514 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 514 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Deguo Han ◽

Jiaxin Han ◽

Guohui Yang ◽

Shuang Wang ◽

Tianlong Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Salt Stress ◽

Forest Tree ◽

Ethylene Response Factor ◽

Amino Acid Residues ◽

Response Factors ◽

Factor Gene ◽

Ethylene Response ◽

Mda Content ◽

Malus Baccata ◽

Ethylene Response Factors

Apple, as one of the most important economic forest tree species, is widely grown in the world. Abiotic stress, such as low temperature and high salt, affect apple growth and development. Ethylene response factors (ERFs) are widely involved in the responses of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, a new ethylene response factor gene was isolated from Malus baccata (L.) Borkh and designated as MbERF11. The MbERF11 gene encoded a protein of 160 amino acid residues with a theoretical isoelectric point of 9.27 and a predicated molecular mass of 17.97 kDa. Subcellular localization showed that MbERF11 was localized to the nucleus. The expression of MbERF11 was enriched in root and stem, and was highly affected by cold, salt, and ethylene treatments in M. baccata seedlings. When MbERF11 was introduced into Arabidopsis thaliana, it greatly increased the cold and salt tolerance in transgenic plant. Increased expression of MbERF11 in transgenic A. thaliana also resulted in higher activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT), higher contents of proline and chlorophyll, while malondialdehyde (MDA) content was lower, especially in response to cold and salt stress. Therefore, these results suggest that MbERF11 probably plays an important role in the response to cold and salt stress in Arabidopsis by enhancing the scavenging capability for reactive oxygen species (ROS).

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Computational Disorder Analysis in Ethylene Response Factors Uncovers Binding Motifs Critical to Their Diverse Functions

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms21010074 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 74 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Xiaolin Sun ◽

Nawar Malhis ◽

Bi Zhao ◽

Bin Xue ◽

Joerg Gsponer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stress Hormones ◽

Plant Stress ◽

Structural Features ◽

Ethylene Response Factor ◽

Response Factors ◽

Protein Protein Interaction ◽

Ethylene Response ◽

Intrinsically Disorder ◽

Functional Features ◽

Ethylene Signalling

APETALA2/ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR transcription factors (AP2/ERFs) play crucial roles in adaptation to stresses such as those caused by pathogens, wounding and cold. Although their name suggests a specific role in ethylene signalling, some ERF members also co-ordinate signals regulated by other key plant stress hormones such as jasmonate, abscisic acid and salicylate. We analysed a set of ERF proteins from three divergent plant species for intrinsically disorder regions containing conserved segments involved in protein–protein interaction known as Molecular Recognition Features (MoRFs). Then we correlated the MoRFs identified with a number of known functional features where these could be identified. Our analyses suggest that MoRFs, with plasticity in their disordered surroundings, are highly functional and may have been shuffled between related protein families driven by selection. A particularly important role may be played by the alpha helical component of the structured DNA binding domain to permit specificity. We also present examples of computationally identified MoRFs that have no known function and provide a valuable conceptual framework to link both disordered and ordered structural features within this family to diverse function.

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