Discovery of Genes and Networks Regulating Tomato Fruit Morphology

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PI: Esther van der Knaap (The Ohio State University/OARDC)CoPIs: Brian McSpadden Gardener (The Ohio State University/OARDC), Carmen Catalá (Boyce Thompson Institute), and Sofia Visa (The College of Wooster)Collaborators: Carri Gerber (The Ohio State University/ATI), Yuji Kamiya (RIKEN, Yokohama Japan), Kazuki Saito (RIKEN and Chiba University, Chiba Japan), Simon Gray and John Ramsay (The College of Wooster)Genetic variation within tomato resulted in distinct varieties that produce round, flat, elongated, pear, torpedo and even bell pepper-shaped fruit of various sizes. This morphological diversity offers unique opportunities to study the formation of fruits and their growth into different shapes. The main objectives of this project are i) to identify and characterize genes controlling tomato fruit shape and size, and ii) to discover the underlying molecular networks that control fruit morphogenesis. To do so, transcript, metabolite and hormone profiles will be generated for genes controlling tomato morphology while new shape and size genes will be genetically mapped and cloned. Furthermore, tomato fruit shapes will be described in mathematical terms to aid standardization and classification of the diverse fruit types. Lastly, models of the molecular networks present in tomato connecting gene expression, hormone and metabolite accumulation with morphology will be generated. The broader impacts resulting from this project will be a significant increase in the knowledge of the processes controlling fruit morphogenesis in plants. Such information will offer crucial insights into the fundamental aspects of plant growth and development. In addition, the outcomes of this research will provide clues of how shape and size of produce can be improved to benefit growers, processors and consumers.The interaction among post doctoral researchers and graduate students on the multidisciplinary project will provide excellent opportunities to integrate bioinformatics and statistical modeling with biological, biochemical and molecular laboratory skills. These activities will engage researchers and teachers at major research institutions, agricultural experiment stations, a community college, a liberal arts college and high schools. Undergraduate researchers will be engaged in laboratory and field studies related to fruit morphology analyses, training in bioinformatic skills as well as improvement of the Tomato Analyzer software application (http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/vanderknaap/tomato_analyzer.htm). These activities will also extend to the local community by the inclusion of high school students in workshops that will be held at Ohio State and laboratory experiments conducted at their schools. The ultimate goals of these efforts are to provide a fully integrated approach to research and education that will increase the appreciation of plant science-based activities in general and crop diversity in particular. Data will be publicly available at the SGN site (http://sgn.cornell.edu/) and the Plant MetGenMAP database (http://bioinfo.bti.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/MetGenMAP/home.cgi) as well as in GEO (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ geo/).