RING-Type E3 Ubiquitin Ligases in Fruit and Vegetable Crops: From Quality Regulation to Stress Adaptation and Mechanistic Integration.

In recent years, post-translational modifications (PTMs) have emerged as critical regulatory mechanisms that control growth, development and quality regulation in fruit and vegetable crops. Among these PTMs, protein ubiquitination is conserved to regulate the stability, activity and subcellular localisation of transcription factors, metabolic enzymes, and signalling proteins which contribute to quality traits and stress responses. Really Interesting New Gene (RING)-type E3 ubiquitin ligases comprise the largest and most functionally diverse class of E3 ligases in plants, and are key determinants of substrate-specific ubiquitination. This review summarises recent progress on the roles of RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases in quality regulation and plant-environment interactions in fruit and vegetable crops and discusses their regulatory mechanisms and potential applications in crop quality improvement.