RT Conference Proceedings T1 Farif transcription factor plays a key role in the regulation of fruit ripening in the cultivated strawberry fragaria × ananassa A1 Martín-Pizarro, Carmen A1 Meco, Victoriano A1 Urrutia, María A1 Vallarino Castro, José G. A1 Pillet, Jeremy A1 Casañal, Ana A1 Osorio-Algar, Sonia A1 Botella-Mesa, Miguel Ángel A1 Valpuesta-Fernández, Victoriano K1 Fresas K1 Frutas - Maduración AB Strawberry is becoming a model for studying the molecular mechanism of ripening in non-climacteric fruits. However, a limited number of transcriptional regulators of this process have been identified so far. In this study, we have identified and characterized a gene encoding for a NAC transcription factor (TF), named as FaRIF (Ripening Inducing Factor). FaRIF expression presents a fruit-specific pattern, which is upregulated during ripening. In order to functionally characterize this TF, we have generated silencing and overexpressing stable transgenic lines. While the RNAi lines showed an apparent delay of fruit ripening, the overexpressing lines displayed an acceleration of this process. Transcriptomic analysis of the silenced lines showed a significantly altered expression of genes involved in development, hormone metabolism, flavonoid pathway, and cell-wall disassembly, being many of these confirmed by phenotypical and metabolomics analysis. Our results support a main role of FaRIF in the control of relevant ripening-associated processes in strawberry fruit. YR 2021 FD 2021-01-22 LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/20824 UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/20824 LA eng NO Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga RD 20 ene 2026