Pivotal roles of Tomato photoreceptor SlUVR8 in seedling development and UV-B stress tolerance.

ABSTRACT

UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (UVR8) is a UV-B photoreceptor that regulates various aspects of plant photomorphogenesis. Physiological functions of UVR8 have been extensively investigated in Arabidopsis. However, functions of Tomato UVR8 (SlUVR8) are largely unknown. To analyze physiological functions of SlUVR8, we generated sluvr8 knock-out mutant lines with CRISPR-CAS9 gene editing approach. At seedling stage, SlUVR8 regulates hypocotyl elongation and anthocyanin accumulation under UV-B. Moreover, SlUVR8 regulates acclimation to low dose UV-B and promotes tolerance to elevated UV-B stress. These results revealed pivotal roles of SlUVR8 in the regulation of Tomato seedling development and UV-B stress tolerance. The manipulation of photoreceptor SlUVR8 may represent a powerful tool to improve Tomato plant performance in nature where high dose UV-B is present.