The Inhibition of Arabidopsis MYST HATs Triggers Immunity to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Plants face a wide range of abiotic and biotic stresses that pose significant threats to their growth and survival. To counter these challenges, plants have developed sophisticated stress response systems that involves reprogramming of gene expression. This gene expression reprogramming prioritizes stress responses over growth-related functions and is regulated through mechanisms such as DNA methylation, chromatin remodelling and histone modifications. In work leading to this proposal, we have identified acetylation of histone N-terminal by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) to play a significant role in regulating stress related transcriptional responses. However, the precise interplay between histone acetylation and transcription dynamics during stress responses is not well understood. This project aims to investigate the role of HATs in regulating tomato transcriptional stress responses leading to enhanced plant performance under stress.