Research-PGR: Decoding the Volatile Aroma of Tomato Fruits

西红柿是世界范围内重要的营养来源，为饮食提供维生素和矿物质。尽管西红柿是均衡饮食的重要组成部分，但消费者经常对超市购买的现代西红柿的味道感到不满。味道更好的西红柿会增加消费量，改善整体消费者的健康状况。不同的西红柿口味差异很大，有些很受消费者喜欢，有些甚至根本不受消费者欢迎。这种自然多样性主要存在于不适合大规模生产的西红柿中，因为西红柿的果实大小、产量和植株外观都较小，这对种植者的盈利能力产生了负面影响。番茄风味的关键成分是挥发性香气化合物。然而，番茄中许多芳香化合物的遗传遗传和生化机制尚不清楚。该项目旨在发现成熟水果中挥发性生产的新特征，最终将导致西红柿味道更好。识别这些缺失的成分将有助于培育风味更好的现代品种。此外，下一代科学家将接受目前生物化学、遗传学和基因组学方法的培训。为高中生物和数学教师举办的生物信息学研讨会将提高教育水平，并激发人们对STEM领域职业的兴趣。该物种在种子传播方面的生存严重依赖于调节成熟水果中特殊挥发性积累的代谢途径。在番茄中，影响这些途径的基因通常编码不同的代谢酶，这些代谢酶在相关的红果物种中的基因结构和活性不同。其中的一个子集也是番茄驯化和改良过程中的选择目标。然而，从支链氨基酸苯丙氨酸和那些属于乙酸酯类的挥发物的途径中的关键酶和调节基因还不是很清楚。本研究的主要目的是应用遗传学、分子生物学和生物化学相结合的方法，对番茄果实挥发性物质产生途径中的新基因进行验证、鉴定和鉴定。来自改进的GWAS和双亲作图研究的信息将被用于确定特定水果挥发性基因座的候选基因的优先顺序。候选基因将通过酶分析、CRISPR基因敲除和分离群体中的座位精细定位来验证。面向高中数学和生物教师的活动将包括一个关于生物信息学方法的研讨会。高中生将接触生物信息学，激发对STEM领域职业的兴趣。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Tomatoes are an important source of nutrition worldwide, providing vitamins and minerals to the diet. Although tomatoes are a critical part of a balanced diet, consumers are often displeased with the flavor of modern tomatoes purchased from supermarkets. Better tasting tomatoes result in increased consumption and improved overall consumer health. Different tomatoes vary tremendously in flavors with some that are highly liked or not at all by consumers. This natural diversity is largely found in tomatoes that are unsuitable for large-scale production because of reduced fruit size, yield and plant appearance that negatively impact profitability for growers. Key components of tomato flavor are the volatile aroma compounds. However, the genetic inheritance and the biochemistry of many aroma compounds in tomato are unknown. This project will aim to find novel characteristics of volatile production in ripe fruit which will ultimately lead to better tasting tomatoes. Identifying these missing components will facilitate breeding efforts for modern varieties with improved flavor. In addition, the next generation of scientists will be trained in current methods of biochemistry, genetics and genomics. Bioinformatics workshops for high school biology and math teachers will improve education and create interest in careers in STEM fields.Survival of the species in terms of seed dispersal is critically dependent on the metabolic pathways that regulate specialized volatile accumulation in ripening fruits. In tomato, genes affecting these pathways often encode metabolic enzymes that differ in gene structure and activity among related red-fruited species. A subset of these are also targets of selection during domestication and improvement of tomato. Yet, key enzymes and regulatory genes in pathways to volatiles that are derived from branched chain amino acids, phenylalanine, and those that belong to the acetate ester category are not well known. The main goal of this research project is to validate, characterize and valorize novel genes in tomato fruit volatile production in the selected pathways by applying integrative genetic, molecular, and biochemical approaches. The information from improved GWAS and bi-parental mapping studies will be used to prioritize candidate genes for specific fruit volatile loci. Candidate genes will be validated by enzymatic assays, CRISPR knockouts and fine mapping of loci in segregating populations. Outreach to high school math and biology teachers will include a workshop on bioinformatics methods. High school students will be exposed to bioinformatics, creating interest in careers in STEM fields.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.