Rowland Steven D, Zumstein Kristina, Nakayama Hokuto, Cheng Zizhang, Flores Amber M, Chitwood Daniel H, Maloof Julin N, Sinha Neelima R
Department of Plant Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
Gradute School of Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan.
New Phytol. 2020 May;226(3):851-865. doi: 10.1111/nph.16403. Epub 2020 Feb 11.
Commercial tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most widely grown vegetable crops worldwide. Heirloom tomatoes retain extensive genetic diversity and a considerable range of fruit quality and leaf morphological traits. Here the role of leaf morphology was investigated for its impact on fruit quality. Heirloom cultivars were grown in field conditions, and BRIX by yield (BY) and other traits were measured over a 14-wk period. The complex relationships among these morphological and physiological traits were evaluated using partial least-squares path modeling, and a consensus model was developed. Photosynthesis contributed strongly to vegetative biomass and sugar content of fruits but had a negative impact on yield. Conversely leaf shape, specifically rounder leaves, had a strong positive impact on both fruit sugar content and yield. Cultivars such as Stupice and Glacier, with very round leaves, had the highest performance in both fruit sugar and yield. Our model accurately predicted BY for two commercial cultivars using leaf shape data as input. This study revealed the importance of leaf shape to fruit quality in tomato, with rounder leaves having significantly improved fruit quality. This correlation was maintained across a range of diverse genetic backgrounds and shows the importance of leaf morphology in tomato crop improvement.
商业番茄（Solanum lycopersicum）是全球种植最广泛的蔬菜作物之一。传统番茄保留了广泛的遗传多样性以及相当多的果实品质和叶片形态特征。在此，研究了叶片形态对果实品质的影响。将传统品种种植在田间条件下，并在14周的时间内测量了每产量的糖度（BY）和其他性状。使用偏最小二乘路径模型评估了这些形态和生理性状之间的复杂关系，并建立了一个共识模型。光合作用对营养生物量和果实糖分含量有很大贡献，但对产量有负面影响。相反，叶片形状，特别是更圆的叶片，对果实糖分含量和产量都有强烈的积极影响。叶片非常圆的品种，如“斯图皮斯”（Stupice）和“冰川”（Glacier），在果实糖分和产量方面表现最佳。我们的模型使用叶片形状数据作为输入，准确预测了两个商业品种的BY。这项研究揭示了叶片形状对番茄果实品质的重要性，更圆的叶片能显著提高果实品质。这种相关性在一系列不同的遗传背景中都存在，表明叶片形态在番茄作物改良中的重要性。
