Tomatoes are a staple in diets worldwide and an essential part of sustainable agriculture. Now, scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) have reported insights into a long-known tomato mutation, unlocking the potential for enhanced fruit quality and stress resistance.
“What started as curiosity about an intriguing mutant has blossomed into a potentially transformative discovery for sustainable agriculture,” said lead researcher Carmen Catalá, an adjunct assistant professor at BTI and Senior Research Associate in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell.
The investigation, published in the Journal of Experimental Botany, focused on decoding the mystery of a tomato mutant called “adpressa,” first discovered in the 1950s. The mutant garnered attention because of an unusual characteristic: adpressa plants are unable to sense gravity. These plants often grow close to the ground rather than upward toward the sky; hence, their name conveys a habit of being flat (adpressed) against the soil.
The team led by Catalá, including BTI postdoctoral researchers Philippe Nicolas and Richard Pattison, began by uncovering the precise genetic change causing this fascinating effect. They found that the mutation blocks the synthesis of starch, which is a storage form of sugar.
The team pushed further, using the mutation to investigate fundamental questions about fruit biology. They discovered that the mutant shows major transcriptional and metabolic adjustments, including increased levels of soluble sugars and enhanced growth. More surprising was the discovery of complete resistance to blossom-end rot (BER), a physiological disorder causing deterioration of fruit’s cell membranes and a dry, black, and sunken area on the bottom of the tomatoes.
2023-07-08 08:00:06
Link from phys.org