ABSTRACT
Solanum lycopersicum phenylalanine ammonia-lyase 5 (SlPAL5) gene regulates the metabolism of phenolic compounds. The study of transcription factors that regulate the expression of SlPAL5 gene is of great significance to elucidate the regulatory mechanism underlying the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds in tomato fruit induced by UV-C irradiation. Here, yeast one-hybrid library of tomato fruit was constructed, and the yeast one-hybrid technology was used to screen the transcription factors that regulate the expression of SlPAL5, the key gene related to the synthesis of phenolic compounds in tomato fruit. As a result, a transcription factor, SlERF7, was obtained and sequenced, followed by the blast homology analysis. Further experiments confirmed that SlERF7 interacted with the promoter of SlPAL5 gene. In addition, UV-C irradiation significantly increased the expression level of SlERF7. These results indicate that SlERF7, which is regulated by UV-C irradiation, might be involved in regulating the transcription of SlPAL5, which provided foundations for further studying the regulation mechanism of the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds in tomato fruit induced by UV-C irradiation.