title: fw2.2: a quantitative trait locus key to the evolution of tomato fruit size.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Breeding and Department of Plant Biology, 252 Emerson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frary
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Nesbitt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grandillo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Knaap
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cong
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meller
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elber
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Alpert
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Tanksley
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: C410667:ORFX protein, plant; D010940:Plant Proteins; D015689:Oncogene Protein p21(ras)