Use of photomorphogenenic mutants in the study of the competence for in vitro regeneration in micro-tomato (lycopersicon esculentum cv micro-tom).

Author(s)

Rogério Falleiros Carvalho

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Piracicaba. , gráficos, ilustrações.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC)
• Defense date: 2004-01-22

Examining board members

Lazaro Eustaquio Pereira Peres; Massanori Takaki; Victor Alexandre Vitorello

• Advisor: Lazaro Eustaquio Pereira Peres
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany
• Indexed in: Banco de Dados Bibliográficos da USP-DEDALUS; Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações - USP
• Location: Universidade de São Paulo. Biblioteca da Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz; t635.642; C37u

Abstract

Parallel to Arabidopsis thaliana model, the tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) has been increasingly used as a genetic approach to address physiological questions. One of the main advantages of Arabidopsis as a "laboratory plant" has been its small size and short life cycle. However, the tomato cultivar Micro-Tom (MT) possesses reduced size (8 cm) and can produce up to 5 generations per year. Tomato photomorphogenic mutants deficient for the synthesis of phytochrome chromophore (au) or the apoprotein PHYA and PHYB1 (fri and tri, respectively), as well as mutants superexpressing phytochrome (hp, atv and Ip) consist on a model to study photomorphogenesis. Concerning the in vitro regeneration capacity as a photomorphogenic response, fewer works have been carried through. The current work aimed at transfering the mutations au, fri, tri, hp, Ip and atv, as well as the regeneration locus (Rg1) of cv MsK to the cv Micro-Tom (MT). The genotypes obtained were used to verify the effect of photomorphogenesis on the competence for in vitro regeneration. Root, stem and leaf explants from MT and Micro-MsK were incubated in MS plus 5mM BAP under white, red (R) and far-red (FR) light. Root, stem and leaf explants from MT and photomorphogenic micro-mutants were incubated in MS plus 5mM BAP under white light. Under R, roots of micro-MsK were presented differentiation, while under FR the differentiation did not occur. Under R, stem explants from micro-MsK formed more shoots than did leaf explants, while under FR was observed a decrease in shoot formation for all types of explants. These results suggest that the active form of phytochrome, induced by R, interacts with the Rg1 in the acquisition of competence for regeneration. In the treatments with white light, roots of micro-MsK and of mutants micro-hp, micro-atv and micro-Ip presented differentiation, while no differentiation was observed for the mutant micron-au or control MT. The number of shoots formed reached the highest values for leaf explants of micro-hp and micro-Ip and for stem explants of micron -atv. Only a low number of shoots was formed from micro-au leaf explants. On the basis of the high competence for regeneration of micro-MsK and mutants that super express phytochrome, it is suggested that the phytochrome promotes, in a signaling pathway, the induction of regeneration factors ( Rg1 ). Alternatively, the Rg1 locus may turn the explant most competent to respond to phytochrome, which could induces others regeneration factors. (AU)