AUTHOR=Musseau Constance , Just Daniel , Jorly Joana , Gévaudant Frédéric , Moing Annick , Chevalier Christian , Lemaire-Chamley Martine , Rothan Christophe , Fernandez Lucie TITLE=Identification of Two New Mechanisms That Regulate Fruit Growth by Cell Expansion in Tomato JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=8 YEAR=2017 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.00988 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2017.00988 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=

Key mechanisms controlling fruit weight and shape at the levels of meristem, ovary or very young fruit have already been identified using natural tomato diversity. We reasoned that new developmental modules prominent at later stages of fruit growth could be discovered by using new genetic and phenotypic diversity generated by saturated mutagenesis. Twelve fruit weight and tissue morphology mutants likely affected in late fruit growth were selected among thousands of fruit size and shape EMS mutants available in our tomato EMS mutant collection. Their thorough characterization at organ, tissue and cellular levels revealed two major clusters controlling fruit growth and tissue morphogenesis either through (i) the growth of all fruit tissues through isotropic cell expansion or (ii) only the growth of the pericarp through anisotropic cell expansion. These likely correspond to new cell expansion modules controlling fruit growth and tissue morphogenesis in tomato. Our study therefore opens the way for the identification of new gene regulatory networks controlling tomato fruit growth and morphology.