Restoring pistil-side self-incompatibility factors recapitulates an interspecific reproductive barrier between tomato species.

Interspecific reproductive barriers are poorly understood, but are central to the biological species concept. The pre-zygotic barriers between red- and green-fruited species in the tomato clade of the genus Solanum provide a model to better understand these barriers in plants. Compatibility usually follows the SI x SC rule: pollen from self-compatible (SC) red-fruited species is rejected on pistils of the predominantly self-incompatible (SI) green-fruited species, but the reciprocal crosses are compatible. This suggests that the interspecific reproductive barrier may be linked to the intraspecific SI mechanism. However, pollen from the SC red-fruited species is also rejected by SC accessions of green-fruited species that lack S-RNase, a key protein expressed in pistils of SI Solanum species. Thus, multiple mechanisms may contribute to the barrier between red- and green-fruited species. We tested whether an S-RNase-dependent barrier is sufficient for rejection of pollen from red-fruited species by introducing functional S-RNase, HT-A and HT-B genes from SI species into Solanum lycopersicum (cultivated tomato). We found that expressing S-RNase in combination with either HT-A or HT-B in the pistil is sufficient to cause rejection of pollen from all four red-fruited species. Thus, redundant mechanisms must operate side by side to prevent crosses between red- and green-fruited species in the clade, underlining the complexity of interspecific pollination barriers. Our results also have implications for mating system transitions. We suggest that these transitions must occur in a specific sequence, and that the transition from SI to SC also affects interspecific compatibility.

MDM2 does not influence p53-mediated sensitivity to DNA-damaging drugs.

MDM2 inhibits transactivation properties of the tumor suppressor protein p53 by binding to and facilitating proteasomal degradation of p53. Because MDM2 targets p53 for degradation, it was anticipated that cells that overexpress MDM2 would not contain functional wild-type p53 (wtp53). However, p53 and MDM2 in cells with damaged DNA can become phosphorylated, and their binding to each other can become inhibited. Thus, p53 remains functional and induces apoptosis of damaged cells. Here we report the results of experiments designed to investigate whether MDM2 amplification and overexpression can inhibit p53-mediated chemosensitivity to DNA-damaging drugs. Two cell lines in which MDM2 is amplified, NB-1691 and Rh18, were transduced with an adenoviral expression vector for p53 (Ad.p53). Although functional wtp53 was detected, no change in chemosensitivity was observed, suggesting that endogenous wtp53 may have been active in the MDM2-amplified cells. The adenoviral vector Ad.MDM2 was used to generate MDM2 expression in a rhabdomyosarcoma cell line, Rh30-CI.27, engineered to express inducible wtp53. When p53 expression was induced, cells became chemosensitive to actinomycin D in the presence or absence of MDM2 expression; this result suggests that MDM2 cannot inhibit p53-mediated chemosensitivity. There was no evidence of a reduced amount of MDM2-p53 binding after drug exposure, but the remaining unbound wtp53 may be functional and capable of potentiating cytotoxicity. In conclusion, MDM2 expression is important in inhibiting p53 function during tumor development but not during the DNA damage-mediated cytotoxic response.