Comparative transcriptomic profiling of two tomato lines with different ascorbate content in the fruit.
In recent years, interest in tomato breeding for enhanced antioxidant content has increased as medical research has pointed to human health benefits from antioxidant dietary intake. Ascorbate is one of the major antioxidants present in tomato, and little is known about mechanisms governing ascorbate pool size in this fruit. In order to provide further insights into genetic mechanisms controlling ascorbate biosynthesis and accumulation in tomato, we investigated the fruit transcriptome profile of the Solanum pennellii introgression line 10-1 that exhibits a lower fruit ascorbate level than its cultivated parental genotype. Our results showed that this reduced ascorbate level is associated with an increased antioxidant demand arising from an accelerated oxidative metabolism mainly involving mitochondria, peroxisomes, and cytoplasm. Candidate genes for controlling ascorbate level in tomato fruit were identified, highlighting the role of glycolysis, glyoxylate metabolism, and purine breakdown in modulating the ascorbate pool size.
Department of Soil, Plant, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Italy.
Antonio
A
Di Matteo
Adriana
A
Sacco
Rosalba
R
De Stefano
Luigi
L
Frusciante
Amalia
A
Barone
D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002952:Citric Acid Cycle; D005638:Fruit / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006019:Glycolysis; D006038:Glyoxylates / Q000378:metabolism; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D020675:Peroxisomes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D032322:Solanum / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity
D000975:Antioxidants; D006038:Glyoxylates; C031150:glyoxylic acid; D001205:Ascorbic Acid