Project Background
Tomato has long served as a model system for plant genetics, development, pathology, and physiology, resulting in the accumulation of substantial information regarding the biology of this economically important organism. In recent years the most widely studied aspects of tomato biology include the development and ripening of their fleshy fruits and characterization of responses to infection by microbial pathogens. Although Arabidopsis has surpassed some plant systems as a model for basic plant biology research, the areas of fruit ripening and pathogen response continue to thrive using tomato as the system of choice. In the case of fruit development this is simply due to the fact that the developmental program which results in the dramatic expansion of ripening of carpels in tomato (and in many other economically and nutrionally important species) does not occur in Arabidopsis.
With regard to plant defense, decades of applied and basic
research on tomato have resulted in characterization of repsonses
to numerous disease agents including bacteria, fungi, viruses,
nematodes, and chewing insects. In many cases this research has
led to the identification and genetic characterization of loci
which confer general or pathogen-specific resistance. In
addition, many experimental tools and features of tomato make it
an excellent model system in its own right. These include:
extensive germplasm collections, numerous natural, induced, and
transgenic mutants and genetic variants, routine transformation
technology, a dense RFLP map, numerous cDNA and genomic
libraries, a small genome, relatively short life-cycle, and ease
of growth and maintenace. The intense research effort in fruit
biology and disease responses and the tools which make tomato an
especially attractive model system have resulted in many
important recent discoveries. Specific highlights which have a
broad impact on the field of plant biology include control of
gene expression by antisense/sense technology, functional
characterization of numerous genes influencing fruit development
and ripening, transgenic analysis of genes which impact
susceptibility of responses to pathogen attack, and isolation of
more disease resistance (R) genes than in any other plant
species.
Project Goals
The overall goal of the project includes the development of an
integrated set of experimental tools for use in tomato functional
genomics. The resources developed will be used to further expand
our understanding of the molecular genetic events underlying
fruit development and responses to pathogen infection, and will
be made available to the research community for analysis of
diverse plant biological phenomena.
Specific Objectives
- Development of a tomato EST database with emphasis on sequences expressed during fruit development and maturation, and in pathogen-challenged tissues.
- Genome-wide gene expression analysis during fruit development and ripening and under pathogen infection.
- Development of a tomato-arabidopsis synteny map which will be used by members of this group and made publicly available for target gene isolation, candidate gene identification, and analysis of dicot genome organization and evolution.