Sl-IAA27 regulates strigolactone biosynthesis and mycorrhization in tomato (var. MicroTom)

Root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is a complex and finely tuned process. Previous studies have shown that, among other plant hormones, auxin plays a role in this process but the specific involvement of Aux/IAAs, the key regulators of auxin responses, is still unknown. In this study, we addressed the role of the tomato Sl-IAA27 during AM symbiosis by using Sl-IAA27-RNAi and pSL-IAA27::GUS stable tomato lines. The data show that Sl-IAA27 expression is up-regulated by the AM fungus and that silencing of Sl-IAA27 has a negative impact on AM colonization. Sl-IAA27-silencing resulted in down-regulation of three genes involved in strigolactone synthesis, NSP1, D27 and MAX1, and treatment of Sl-IAA27-silenced plants with the strigolactone analog GR24 complemented their mycorrhizal defect phenotype. Overall, the study identified an Aux/IAA gene as a new component of the signaling pathway controlling AM fungal colonization in tomato. This gene is proposed to control strigolactone biosynthesis via the regulation of NSP1.