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JXB Advance Access published online on November 25, 2008
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/ern281
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© 2008 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Identification of growth processes involved in QTLs for tomato fruit size and composition

Nadia Bertin1,*, Mathilde Causse2, Béatrice Brunel1, David Tricon1 and Michel Génard1

1INRA, UR1115 Plantes et systèmes de culture horticoles, INRA, F-84000 Avignon, France
2INRA, UR1052 Génétique et Amélioration des Fruits et Légumes, INRA, F-84000 Avignon, France

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nadia.bertin{at}avignon.inra.fr

Many quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for quality traits have been located on the tomato genetic map, but introgression of favourable wild alleles into large fruited species is hampered by co-localizations of QTLs with antagonist effects. The aim of this study was to assess the growth processes controlled by the main QTLs for fruit size and composition. Four nearly isogenic lines (NILs) derived from an intraspecific cross between a tasty cherry tomato (Cervil) and a normal-tasting large fruit tomato (Levovil) were studied. The lines carried one (L2, L4, and L9) or five (Lx) introgressions from Cervil on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, and 9. QTLs for fruit size could be mainly associated with cell division processes in L2 and L9, whereas cell expansion was rather homogeneous among the genotypes, except Cervil for which the low expansion rate was attributed to low cell plasticity. The link between endoreduplication and fruit size remained unclear, as cell or fruit sizes were positively correlated with the cell DNA content, but not with the endoreduplication factor. QTLs for fruit composition reflected differences in water accumulation rather than in sugar accumulation, except in L9 for which the up-regulation of sucrose unloading and hexose transport and/or starch synthesis was suggested. This may explain the increased amount of carbon allocated to cell structures in L9, which could be related to a QTL for fruit texture. In Lx, these effects were attenuated, except on fruit size and cell division. Finally, the region on top of chromosome 9 may control size and composition attributes in tomato, by a combination of QTL effects on cell division, cell wall synthesis, and carbon import and metabolism.

Key words: Cell division and expansion, endoreduplication, fruit quality, near isogenic line, osmotic regulation, quantitative trait locus, Solanum lycopersicum, starch, sugar and acid contents

Received 22 July 2008; Revised 17 October 2008 Accepted 20 October 2008


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