Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors regulate the CDK-cyclin complex activities in endoreduplicating cells of developing tomato fruit.

The jelly-like locular (gel) tissue of tomato fruit is made up of large thin-walled and highly vacuolized cells. The development of the gel tissue is characterized by the arrest of mitotic activities, the inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase A (CDKA) activity, and numerous rounds of nuclear DNA endoreduplication. To decipher the molecular determinants controlling these developmental events, we investigated the putative involvement of CDK inhibitors (p27(Kip)-related proteins, or KRPs) during the endoreduplication process. Two cDNAs, LeKRP1 and LeKRP2, encoding tomato CDK inhibitors were isolated. The LeKRP1 and LeKRP2 transcript expression was shown to be enhanced in the differentiating cells of the gel undergoing endoreduplication. At the translational level, LeKRP1 was shown to accumulate in the gel tissue and to participate in the inhibition of the CDK-cyclin kinase activities occurring in endoreduplicating cells of the gel tissue. We here propose that LeKRP1 participates in the control of both the cell cycle and the endoreduplication cycle.