Unraveling Cuticle Formation, Structure, and Properties by Using Tomato Genetic Diversity

Abstract

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit has a thick, astomatous cuticle that has become a model for the study of cuticle formation, structure, and properties in plants. Tomato is also a major horticultural crop and a long-standing model for research in genetics, fruit development, and disease resistance. As a result, a wealth of genetic resources and genomic tools have been established, including collections of natural and artificially induced genetic diversity, introgression lines of genome fragments from wild relatives, high-quality genome sequences, phenotype and gene expression databases, and efficient methods for genetic transformation and editing of target genes. This mini-review reports the considerable progresses made in recent years in our understanding of cuticle by using and generating genetic diversity for cuticle-associated traits in tomato. These include the synthesis of the main cuticle components (cutin and waxes), their role in the structure and properties of the cuticle, their interaction with other cell wall polymers as well as the regulation of cuticle formation. It also addresses the opportunities offered by the untapped germplasm diversity available in tomato and the current strategies available to exploit them.

La2O3 Nanoparticles Can Cause Cracking of Tomato Fruit through Genetic Reconstruction

“…7,11 The fruit exocarp not only acts as a barrier to protect fruit from damage by external substances but also balances the pressure of internal expansion during growth. Therefore, the fruit exocarp (also termed fruit skin), consisting of cuticle, epidermis, and collenchyma cells, 26 is essential for the resistance to fruit cracking. As shown in Figure 1A−C, ultrastructural changes were found in fruit exocarp at 40 days after flowering (DAF) with La 2 O 3 NP exposure at 25 mg/L.…”

The SlSHN2 transcription factor contributes to cuticle formation and epidermal patterning in tomato fruit

“…Considerable advances in our understanding of the formation and architecture of cuticle have been made in the recent years thanks to the use of natural or artificially-induced genetic diversity available in cultivated tomato and in related wild species (Petit et al 2021 ). To better understand fruit cuticle formation, we previously screened an EMS-mutagenized mutant collection in the miniature cultivar Micro-Tom (Just et al 2013 ) for cutin-deficient ( cd ) mutants exhibiting increased fruit glossiness (Petit et al 2014 ).…”

Genome-wide identification, comprehensive characterization of transcription factors, cis-regulatory elements, protein homology, and protein interaction network of DREB gene family in Solanum lycopersicum

“…Moreover, Solyc05g054200.2.1 and Solyc07g047610.2.1 (transcriptional adapter ada2b isoform x1), associated with cold stress signaling, are involved in histone acetylation and chromatin remodeling. Sl GPAT6 (Solyc09g014350.2.1) is a glycerol-3-phosphate 2-O-acyltransferase 6 protein detected in cutin biosynthesis in tomato ( Petit et al., 2021 ). Additionally, Sl DREB54 revealed its interaction with Solyc01g090140.1.1 protein [belongs to 2-oxoglutarate (2OG) and Fe(II)-dependent oxygenase superfamily] that functions in the biosynthesis of plant pigments, flavonoids, and gibberellins and regulates oxidoreductase activity ( Kawai et al., 2014 ) ( Figure 13E ).…”