SUCROSE NONFERMENTING1-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE2.6, an ortholog of OPEN STOMATA1, is a negative regulator of strawberry fruit development and ripening.

Whereas the regulatory mechanisms that direct fruit ripening have been studied extensively, little is known about the signaling mechanisms underlying this process, especially for nonclimacteric fruits. In this study, we demonstrated that a SUCROSE NONFERMENTING1-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE2, designated as FaSnRK2.6, is a negative regulator of fruit development and ripening in the nonclimacteric fruit strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) and can also mediate temperature-modulated strawberry fruit ripening. FaSnRK2.6 was identified as an ortholog of OPEN STOMATA1. Levels of FaSnRK2.6 transcript rapidly decreased during strawberry fruit development and ripening. FaSnRK2.6 was found to be capable of physically interacting with strawberry ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE1, a negative regulator in strawberry fruit ripening. RNA interference-induced silencing of FaSnRK2.6 significantly promoted fruit ripening. By contrast, overexpression of FaSnRK2.6 arrested fruit ripening. Strawberry fruit ripening is highly sensitive to temperature, with high temperatures promoting ripening and low temperatures delaying it. As the temperature increased, the level of FaSnRK2.6 expression declined. Furthermore, manipulating the level of FaSnRK2.6 expression altered the expression of a variety of temperature-responsive genes. Taken together, this study demonstrates that FaSnRK2.6 is a negative regulator of strawberry fruit development and ripening and, furthermore, that FaSnRK2.6 mediates temperature-modulated strawberry fruit ripening.