Architecture regulation of tomato carpel and fruit development by miR319/LANCEOLATE pathway

• Grant number: 15/07171-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2015
• End date: June 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Tebaldi Silveira Nogueira
• Grantee: Airton de Carvalho Junior
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Transcription factors of the type Teosinte Branched 1 / Cycloidea / PCF (TCP) control different aspects of plant development, such as leaf morphogenesis, floral symmetry and branching pattern. In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), the natural mutation in the gene TCP Lanceolate (LA) promotes drastic change in vegetative architecture: instead of the composite feature of tomato leaf, LA mutant plants develop simple, jagged and wavy leaves. The LA gene mutation is located in the miR319 miRNA recognition site, which inhibit correct regulation of gene transcripts LA levels during leaf morphogenesis. Interestingly, LA mutant plant also feature elongated fruits, although this phenotype of the fruit has not yet been described. The fruit is one of the last structures to be formed during the plant life cycle, however, its shape and size are predetermined during the formation and determination of the whorls. It is possible that miR319 / LA pathway regulate the development of carpel structure in the proximal-distal axis during the initial growth stage of formation of floral organs, probably through control of the distribution of auxin. Therefore, the aim of this project is to evaluate the miR319 via / LA pathway in the formation of carpels and development of tomato fruit.