Man Can Control Fruit Shape: American Scientists Discover Key Genes
Ethel Vanderknapp, a researcher at the Agricultural Research and Development Center of Ohio State University, and her team recently discovered a key gene that affects the shape of fruit. This gene is also the second gene discovered so far that can make tomatoes naturally grow into various shapes.
After years of hard work, scientists finally uncovered the mysterious outer veil of fruits with different shapes. Since then, human beings may really be able to control the shape of fruit at will without any external force, and the discovery of this key gene also provides a new idea for greatly increasing fruit yield in the future.
Ethel Van der Nape said, "The study of tomatoes is a typical example of fruit shape research. With the transformation of tomatoes from wild to artificial cultivation, it is more convenient for us to find the reasons for so many shapes and styles of tomatoes. When we understand the function of all the genes in tomatoes, we will naturally find the genes that control the shape. Furthermore, we will also find out the reasons for other crops with different shapes, such as peppers, cucumbers and gourds. "
The most troublesome thing for scientists is Gene Sun. It is named after an oval tomato "Sun 1642" with a sharp bottom. However, in subsequent studies, scientists found that the SUN gene is ubiquitous in all kinds of tomatoes, such as HowardGerman tomato.
After observing the germplasm of a complete tomato, scientists found that there are always many * * * identical gene components in all kinds of irregular tomatoes, and then they analyzed these * * * identical genes, then eliminated irrelevant genes, repeated them, and finally narrowed the gene range to a very small part. "We finally determined the most critical gene for controlling the shape of tomatoes: the shape is long and the gene is highly open; In round tomatoes, this gene is turned off. We later found that this gene was highly expressed in other slender fruits. (original report) "
Scientists say that once the SUN gene is identified, the next step will be to verify whether this gene is the real reason for the change of fruit shape. Vanderknapp and her team conducted several fruit transformation experiments for analysis. In their experiments, they found that when the SUN gene was transferred into wild round tomato plants, these plants would grow fruits with great elongation. When the gene SUN, which can produce long tomato plants, is removed, the plants will produce tomatoes with a shape close to the wild circle.
Van der knapp said, "Although we still can't figure out how the SUN gene plays a role in tomato formation, we can be sure that the SUN gene is very important for the change of fruit shape. We can now take a big step forward. After that, we can't help but ask: Does the SUN gene or genes closely related to its sequence also play such an important role in the formation of other fruits and vegetables? "
In the subsequent study, Vanderknapp and her team found that SUN encoded IQ67 domain of plant protein IQD 12. In the experiment of plant transformation, IQD 12 itself can make tomatoes into long strips instead of wild ones. In addition, scientists found that another feature of SUN gene is that it can affect the shape of fruit after pollination and fertilization, and the difference of fruit shape development is the most obvious after five days of flowering. The previously identified gene that can control fruit shape is OVATE, which was discovered by Professor StevenTanksley of Cornell University, a doctoral supervisor of Van der Nape. Some crop scientists and scientists believe that the discovery of Sun gene will enrich the "human art" in the fruit industry.