Flowering in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a crucial developmental stage that can be hindered by environmental stresses such as drought. Prolonged exposure to drought at this stage can result in significant yield losses because drought stress threatens the growth and development of plants. Flowering has been reported as one of the mechanisms that plants utilize to respond to drought and hasten the production of seeds to ensure species survival.

Prof. Yingfang Zhu’s group found that tomato SlOST1 not only positively regulates drought tolerance but also promotes flowering under drought stress conditions. We also discovered that SlOST1 promotes the stability and nuclear translocation of the NAC-type transcription factor VASCULAR PLANT ONE-ZINC FINGER 1 (SlVOZ1) via phosphorylation, which is further enhanced by ABA. In addition, we revealed that nucleus-localized SlVOZ1 can bind to the promoter of a major flowering gene SFT to modulate flowering. It was intriguing to discover the essential role of the SlOST1-SlVOZ1 module in balancing flowering and drought stress response in tomato.

This work was published in The Plant Cell (IF: 11.277). Dr. Leelyn Chong, PhD student Rui Xu and master student Pengcheng Huang are the co-first authors, Prof. Yingfang Zhu is the corresponding author. This work is supported by NSFC and Henan Science and Technology Development Plan Project. This work is also partly supported by the open funds of the State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry (SKLPPBKF2107).

Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac026