title: Compact tomato seedlings and plants upon overexpression of a tomato chromatin remodelling ATPase gene.
abstract: Control of plant growth is an important aspect of crop productivity and yield in agriculture. Overexpression of the AtCHR12/23 genes in Arabidopsis thaliana reduced growth habit without other morphological changes. These two genes encode Snf2 chromatin remodelling ATPases. Here, we translate this approach to the horticultural crop tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). We identified and cloned the single tomato ortholog of the two Arabidopsis Snf2 genes, designated SlCHR1. Transgenic tomato plants (cv. Micro-Tom) that constitutively overexpress the coding sequence of SlCHR1 show reduced growth in all developmental stages of tomato. This confirms that SlCHR1 combines the functions of both Arabidopsis genes in tomato. Compared to the wild type, the transgenic seedlings of tomato have significantly shorter roots, hypocotyls and reduced cotyledon size. Transgenic plants have a much more compact growth habit with markedly reduced plant height, severely compacted reproductive structures with smaller flowers and smaller fruits. The results indicate that either GMO-based or non-GMO-based approaches to modulate the expression of chromatin remodelling ATPase genes could develop into methods to control plant growth, for example to replace the use of chemical growth retardants. This approach is likely to be applicable and attractive for any crop for which growth habit reduction has added value.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Folta
authors.affiliation: Applied Bioinformatics, Bioscience, Plant Research International, Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Joachim W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Bargsten
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ton
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bisseling
authors.affiliation: Applied Bioinformatics, Bioscience, Plant Research International, Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Expertise Centre ALIFE, Institute for Life Science & Technology, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan-Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Nap
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ludmila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mlynarova
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly / Q000235:genetics*; D035264:Flowers / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005638:Fruit / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D017343:Genes, Plant; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D036226:Seedlings / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases
keywords: SWI/SNF2; chromatin remodelling; growth; plant habit; tomato