Diverting tyrosine: Data from untargeted metabolic analysis of tomato fruit accumulating L-DOPA.

L-DOPA, also known as Levodopa or L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, is synthesised in plants from the amino acid tyrosine, through oxidation. Conversion of tyrosine to L-DOPA constitues the first step of betalain biosynthesis in plants. Recently, the gene responsible for this step was identified in beetroot, , that is the source of yellow and purple betalain pigments. Overexpression of this gene, specifically in tomato fruit, led to accumulation of L-DOPA that otherwise is not detectable [1]. Co-expression of the Arabidopsis transcription factor, , in fruit, increased L-DOPA levels further. To study the metabolic changes in these fruit, we performed untargeted metabolite analysis of ripe fruit: GC-MS was performed to identify changes in primary metabolites, LC-MS analysis was used to identify alterations in specialised metabolites. These data can be used to study the impact of diversion of tyrosine in fruit, accompanied by the accumulation of L-DOPA and to identify new biological roles associated with the accumulation of these metabolites.