fw2.2: a quantitative trait locus key to the evolution of tomato fruit size.
Domestication of many plants has correlated with dramatic increases in fruit size. In tomato, one quantitative trait locus (QTL), fw2.2, was responsible for a large step in this process. When transformed into large-fruited cultivars, a cosmid derived from the fw2.2 region of a small-fruited wild species reduced fruit size by the predicted amount and had the gene action expected for fw2.2. The cause of the QTL effect is a single gene, ORFX, that is expressed early in floral development, controls carpel cell number, and has a sequence suggesting structural similarity to the human oncogene c-H-ras p21. Alterations in fruit size, imparted by fw2.2 alleles, are most likely due to changes in regulation rather than in the sequence and structure of the encoded protein.
Frary
A
A
Department of Plant Breeding and Department of Plant Biology, 252 Emerson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Nesbitt
T C
TC
Grandillo
S
S
Knaap
E
E
Cong
B
B
Liu
J
J
Meller
J
J
Elber
R
R
Alpert
K B
KB
Tanksley
S D
SD
D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002452:Cell Count; D002455:Cell Division; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D020451:Contig Mapping; D005638:Fruit / Q000254:growth & development; D017343:Genes, Plant; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D006801:Humans; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D015689:Oncogene Protein p21(ras) / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D018514:Plant Structures / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
C410667:ORFX protein, plant; D010940:Plant Proteins; D015689:Oncogene Protein p21(ras)