The research of subcellular localization of ethylene response factor LeERF1 in tomato fruit

Ethylene is an endogenous plant hormone that influences many aspects of plant growth and development. Ethylene responses is conducted by ethylene signal transduction pathway. Ethylene Responsive Element Binding Proteins (EREBPs) are transcriptional factors function in the ethylene signaling pathway in plants, helping to regulate ethylene responses by regulating genes transcription and expression. We have cloned Tomato LeERF1 gene which was identified as members of the EREBPs family, characterized by a conserved ERF domain. In this research, in order to further examine the location of the LeERF1, immunocytochemical localization in vascular tissues of tomato fruit was proformed. Our results suggested LeERF1 was mainly localized in the nucleus (N), nucleolus (Nu) and plastid (P), and little LeERF1 signal was detected in the cell wall (CW) and vaculoe (V). During the phase of immature green stage (IG) of tomato fruit, there were a few LeERF1 protein in the cells of tomato tissues. As the development, the signal of LeERF1 increased obviously in the nucleus (N), nucleolus (Nu) and plastid (P). And there were larger LeERF1 protein in breaking tomato fruit than in green tomato fruit identified by Western blotting. The experiments showed that LeERF1 had relationship with the ripening of tomato fruit.