Abstract
A set of tomato alleles in the genes encoding light signal transduction pathway components DET1, COP10, COP1like and DDB1 produced by TILLING show increases in fruit phytonutrient content. [Display omitted]
► Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes (TILLING) is a reverse-genetic strategy. ► Tomato signal transduction mutants were generated by TILLING. ► Mutations to DEETIOLATED1, DDB1, COP1 and COP1Like are described. ► Point mutations to DEETIOLATED1 enhance phytonutrient accumulation in fruit.
Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes (TILLING) combines chemical mutagenesis with high throughput screening to allow the generation of alleles of selected genes. In this study, TILLING has been applied to produce a series of mutations in genes encoding essential components of the tomato light signal transduction pathway in an attempt to enhance fruit nutritional quality. Point mutations to DEETIOLATED1 (DET1), which is responsible for the high pigment2 (hp2) tomato mutant, resulted in elevated levels of both carotenoid and phenylpropanoid phytonutrients in ripe fruit, whilst immature fruit showed increased chlorophyll content, photosynthetic capacity and altered fruit morphology. Furthermore, genotypes with mutations to the UV-DAMAGED DNA BINDING PROTEIN 1 (DDB1), COP1 and COP1like were also characterised. These genotypes largely did not display phenotypes characteristic of mutation to light signalling components but their characterisation has enabled interrogation of structure function relationships of the mutated genes.