Regulation of BZR1 in fruit ripening revealed by iTRAQ proteomics analysis

Fruit ripening is a complex and genetically programmed process. Brassinosteroids (BRs) play an essential role in plant growth and development, including fruit ripening. As a central component of BR signaling, the transcription factor BZR1 is involved in fruit development in tomato. However, the transcriptional network through which BZR1 regulates fruit ripening is mostly unknown. In this study, we use isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) labeling technology to explore important proteins regulated by BZR1 in two independent tomato transgenic lines over-expressing BZR1-1D at four ripening stages, identifying 411 differentially expressed proteins. These proteins were implicated in light reaction, plant hormone pathways and cell-wall-related metabolism, etc. The ‘light reaction’ metabolic pathway was identified as a markedly enhanced pathway by BZR1 during tomato fruit ripening. The protein level of a probable 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase 2-ODD2, involved in gibberellin biosynthesis was significantly increased at all four developmental and ripening stages. The results reveal molecular links between BR signaling pathway and downstream components involved in multiple ripening-associated events during tomato fruit ripening, which will provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying tomato ripening regulatory networks, and be potential in understanding BR-regulated fruit ripening.