Molecular characterization of two AP2/ERF transcription factor genes from Egyptian tomato cultivar (Edkawy)

The tomato is ranked first amongst vegetable crops in Egypt in relation to surface area and production. The Egyptian tomato cultivar Edkawy has shown abiotic stress tolerance characteristics. However, there is not much information about the molecular characterization of this cultivar. Furthermore, information regarding the identification of abiotic stress tolerance genes from the Edkawy tomato cultivar is lacking. Here, we investigated the ability of the Edkawy cultivar to tolerate drought stress. Two varieties were used as a control in this study; Peto86 (sensitive variety) and Strain B (tolerant variety). Edkawy, Peto86 and Strain B varieties were exposed to drought stress by reducing the water supply gradually. Interestingly, Edkawy demonstrated a remarkable tolerance phenotype to drought stress. Furthermore, we identified and isolated two members of the AP2/ERF transcription factor family from Edkawy which are associated with abiotic stress, particularly drought, i.e. ERF1 and ERF5. Protein prediction, validation and active site prediction of ERF1 and ERF5 were also determined. In addition to the domain obtained by the pfam online tool, the interaction between Edkawy ERFs proteins and other proteins in the Solanaceae family was obtained. Furthermore, subcellular localization was determined by the ngLOC and Plant-mPLoc online tools. Characterization of the Edkawy tomato cultivar and isolation and identification of such transcription factors will help in the engineering of tomato plants with abiotic stress tolerance.