Business Unit Bioscience, Cluster Applied Bioinformatics, Wageningen University and Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Department of Chromosome Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829, Cologne, Germany.
Plant Reprod. 2023 Mar;36(1):97-106. doi: 10.1007/s00497-022-00450-7. Epub 2022 Sep 23.
Meiosis is a specialized cell division during reproduction where one round of chromosomal replication is followed by genetic recombination and two rounds of segregation to generate recombined, ploidy-reduced spores. Meiosis is crucial to the generation of new allelic combinations in natural populations and artificial breeding programs. Several plant species are used in meiosis research including the cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) which is a globally important crop species. Here we outline the unique combination of attributes that make tomato a powerful model system for meiosis research. These include the well-characterized behavior of chromosomes during tomato meiosis, readily available genomics resources, capacity for genome editing, clonal propagation techniques, lack of recent polyploidy and the possibility to generate hybrids with twelve related wild species. We propose that further exploitation of genome bioinformatics, genome editing and artificial intelligence in tomato will help advance the field of plant meiosis research. Ultimately this will help address emerging themes including the evolution of meiosis, how recombination landscapes are determined, and the effect of temperature on meiosis.
减数分裂是一种在繁殖过程中发生的特殊细胞分裂，其中一轮染色体复制后，会发生遗传重组和两轮分离，从而产生重组、染色体数目减半的孢子。减数分裂对于自然种群和人工育种计划中产生新的等位基因组合至关重要。有几种植物物种被用于减数分裂研究，包括栽培番茄（Solanum lycopersicum），它是一种全球重要的作物物种。在这里，我们概述了使番茄成为减数分裂研究强大模型系统的独特属性组合。这些属性包括番茄减数分裂过程中染色体的特征性行为、易于获得的基因组学资源、基因组编辑能力、克隆繁殖技术、缺乏最近的多倍体以及与十二种相关野生种生成杂种的可能性。我们提出，进一步利用基因组生物信息学、基因组编辑和人工智能在番茄中的应用将有助于推进植物减数分裂研究领域的发展。最终，这将有助于解决包括减数分裂进化、重组景观如何确定以及温度对减数分裂的影响等新兴主题。
