A photostable version of HY5 confers tolerance to proximity shade and improved defense responses in tomato

Abstract

Light is essential for plant growth and development. Sustainably feeding a constantly-growing human population will likely involve adapting crop plants to intercropping and high planting density by rational manipulation of light signaling. Here, we edited the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) genome to generate lines with a light-stable version of ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5), a master transcription factor involved in the integration of light and hormone signaling. Removing the tomato HY5 N-terminal domain required for interaction with CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) prevented light-dependent protein degradation and resulted in a gain-of-function phenotype of short seedlings. Elongation growth was also compromised under proximity shade conditions either simulated by enriching white light (W) with far-red light (W+FR) or achieved by growing plants at a higher density. Transcriptomic analysis of gene expression changes after exposure to W+FR for 24h revealed a reduced number of shade-responsive genes in edited lines compared to unedited, wild-type controls, many of which are related to growth and hormone (notably auxin) biosynthesis and signaling. The reduced elongation observed in edited lines correlated with enhanced resistance to infection by viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens, both under low and high density conditions. These results indicate that our editing approach allows the generation of gain-of-function tomato plants in which HY5 is camouflaged to avoid COP1 recognition and eventual degradation. Our findings therefore provide a biotechnological tool to create more compact and pathogen-resistant plants amenable to high planting densities.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{burbanoerazo2026photostable,
  title = {{A photostable version of HY5 confers tolerance to proximity shade and improved defense responses in tomato}},
  author = {E. Burbano-Erazo and J. Dich and M. Vidal-Tur and M. Simon-Moya and A. Locascio and S. Francesca and M. M. Rigano and M. Faize and j. MARTINEZ GARCIA and M. Rodriguez-Concepcion},
  howpublished = {bioRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.64898/2026.09.25.754491},
  url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.25.754491v1},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - A photostable version of HY5 confers tolerance to proximity shade and improved defense responses in tomato
AU  - E. Burbano-Erazo
AU  - J. Dich
AU  - M. Vidal-Tur
AU  - M. Simon-Moya
AU  - A. Locascio
AU  - S. Francesca
AU  - M. M. Rigano
AU  - M. Faize
AU  - j. MARTINEZ GARCIA
AU  - M. Rodriguez-Concepcion
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/25
PB  - bioRxiv
DO  - 10.64898/2026.09.25.754491
UR  - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.25.754491v1
AB  - Light is essential for plant growth and development. Sustainably feeding a constantly-growing human population will likely involve adapting crop plants to intercropping and high planting density by rational manipulation of light signaling. Here, we edited the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) genome to generate lines with a light-stable version of ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5), a master transcription factor involved in the integration of light and hormone signaling. Removing the tomato HY5 N-terminal domain required for interaction with CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) prevented light-dependent protein degradation and resulted in a gain-of-function phenotype of short seedlings. Elongation growth was also compromised under proximity shade conditions either simulated by enriching white light (W) with far-red light (W+FR) or achieved by growing plants at a higher density. Transcriptomic analysis of gene expression changes after exposure to W+FR for 24h revealed a reduced number of shade-responsive genes in edited lines compared to unedited, wild-type controls, many of which are related to growth and hormone (notably auxin) biosynthesis and signaling. The reduced elongation observed in edited lines correlated with enhanced resistance to infection by viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens, both under low and high density conditions. These results indicate that our editing approach allows the generation of gain-of-function tomato plants in which HY5 is camouflaged to avoid COP1 recognition and eventual degradation. Our findings therefore provide a biotechnological tool to create more compact and pathogen-resistant plants amenable to high planting densities.
ER  -

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