Proximal and Distal Parts of Sweetpotato Adventitious Roots Display Differences in Root Architecture, Lignin, and Starch Metabolism and Their Developmental Fates.

Sweetpotato is an important food crop globally, serving as a rich source of carbohydrates, vitamins, fiber, and micronutrients. Sweetpotato yield depends on the modification of adventitious roots into storage roots. The underlying mechanism of this developmental switch is not fully understood.

CaFT-LIKE is a flowering promoter in pepper and functions as florigen in tomato.

We identified a pepper late-flowering mutant that is disrupted in the sequence of CaFT-LIKE, the ortholog of tomato SINGLE FLOWER TRUSS (SFT). Heterologous expression in tomato indicated that CaFT-LIKE has a conserved function as a flowering promoter and can rescue the wild-type phenotype of the tomato sft mutant. CaFT-LIKE confers a graft-transmissible signal for flowering initiation in tomato, implicating its function as a florigen.

Gibberellin Promotes Sweetpotato Root Vascular Lignification and Reduces Storage-Root Formation.

Sweetpotato yield depends on a change in the developmental fate of adventitious roots into storage-roots. The mechanisms underlying this developmental switch are still unclear. We examined the hypothesis claiming that regulation of root lignification determines storage-root formation.

The zinc-finger transcription factor CcLOL1 controls chloroplast development and immature pepper fruit color in Capsicum chinense and its function is conserved in tomato.

Chloroplast development and chlorophyll content in the immature fruit has a major impact on the morphology and quality in pepper (Capsicum spp.) fruit. Two major quantitative trait loci (QTLs), pc1 and pc10 that affect chlorophyll content in the pepper fruit by modulation of chloroplast compartment size were previously identified in chromosomes 1 and 10, respectively.

Tomato facultative parthenocarpy results from SlAGAMOUS-LIKE 6 loss of function.

The extreme sensitivity of the microsporogenesis process to moderately high or low temperatures is a major hindrance for tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) sexual reproduction and hence year-round cropping. Consequently, breeding for parthenocarpy, namely, fertilization-independent fruit set, is considered a valuable goal especially for maintaining sustainable agriculture in the face of global warming. A mutant capable of setting high-quality seedless (parthenocarpic) fruit was found following a screen of EMS-mutagenized tomato population for yielding under heat stress.

Interplay of MYB factors in differential cell expansion, and consequences for tomato fruit development.

We previously identified SlFSM1 as an early fruit-specific gene encoding a short protein harboring a non-canonical SANT/MYB-like domain. Here, we investigated the role of FSM1 during fruit development in tomato and its mode of action. By analyzing tomato plants ectopically expressing FSM1, we established that it negatively affects cell expansion, particularly of those cells with the highest potential to expand, such as those residing inner to the vascular bundles in the fruit pericarp.

Improved yielding and reduced puffiness under extreme temperatures induced by fruit-specific expression of rolB in processing tomatoes.

Tomato fruit production is severely hampered by both extremely high and low temperatures, mainly due to impaired microsporogenesis and pollination under these conditions. Even mild temperature stress, leading to partial damage to pollen viability can result in the production of under-fertilized puffy fruits of poor quality, while severe stress can abolish fruit set completely. Genetic or transgenic parthenocarpy that enables fertilization-independent fruit development offers a solution for tomato yielding under conditions unfavorable for pollen production and/or fertilization.

Modulated fatty acid desaturation via overexpression of two distinct omega-3 desaturases differentially alters tolerance to various abiotic stresses in transgenic tobacco cells and plants.

Changes in the degree of fatty acid (FA) desaturation are implicated in plant responses to various abiotic stresses, including heat, salt and drought. However, it is still not known whether decreased levels of linolenic acid, found in many plants subjected to salt and drought stress, reflect a mechanism of defence or damage. We addressed this question by generating tobacco cells and plants ectopically overexpressing two FA desaturases: the cytosolic FAD3 or the plastidic FAD8.

The tomato early fruit specific gene Lefsm1 defines a novel class of plant-specific SANT/MYB domain proteins.

We describe here a novel plant-specific gene, Lefsm1 (fruit SANT/MYB-like 1) harboring a single SANT/MYB domain. The expression of Lefsm1 is specific to the very early stages of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) fruit development. Ectopic expression of Lefsm1 results in severe developmental alterations manifested in retarded growth, and reduced apical dominance during tomato and Arabidopsis seedling development.

Induction of parthenocarpy in tomato via specific expression of the rolB gene in the ovary.

The molecular signals for the development of the ovary into fruit following ovule fertilization are not clear. However, in many species, including tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), auxins and auxin transport inhibitors can substitute for fertilization as activators of fruit set, suggesting that this plant hormone plays a key role in this process.