Physiological changes in fruit ripening caused by overexpression of tomato SlAN2, an R2R3-MYB factor

•We make a comparison between SlAN2 overexpression fruit and WT fruit.•Overexpression of SlAN2 impacts fruit carotenoid accumulation.•Overexpression of SlAN2 impacts fruit softening.•Overexpression of SlAN2 impacts ethylene emission.

The R2R3-MYB protein SlAN2 has long been thought to be a positive regulator of anthocyanin accumulation. To investigate the role of SlAN2, we have previously overexpressed the gene in tomato. In this work, we analysed physiological characters of the transgenic plants during the fruit ripening. We show that fruits of transformants overexpressing SlAN2 displayed an orange colour, fast softening and elevated ethylene production. Overexpression of SlAN2 resulted in reduction of carotenoid levels via alteration of flux through the carotenoid pathway, elevated ethylene synthesis mainly via upregulation of ethylene biosynthesis genes, and early softening of fruits. We also found that the transcript level of SlRIN, an important ripening-related gene, was up-regulated in transgenic fruits. These results suggest that SlAN2 acts as an important regulator of fruit ripening.