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Fine mapping of the parthenocarpic fruit (pat) mutation in tomato

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Abstract

The parthenocarpic fruit (pat) gene of tomato is a recessive mutation conferring parthenocarpy, which is the capability of a plant to set seedless fruits in the absence of pollination and fertilization. Parthenocarpic mutants offer a useful method to regulate fruit production and a suitable experimental system to study ovary and fruit development. In order to map the Pat locus, two populations segregating from the interspecific cross Lycopersicon esculentum × Lycopersicon pennellii were grown, and progeny plants were classified as parthenocarpic or wild-type by taking into account some characteristic aberrations affecting mutant anthers and ovules. Through bulk segregant analysis, we searched for both random and mapped AFLPs linked to the target gene. In this way, the Pat locus was assigned to the long arm of chromosome 3, as also confirmed by the analysis of a set of L. pennellii substitution and introgression lines. Afterwards, the Pat position was refined by using simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and conserved ortholog set (COS) markers mapping in the target region. The tightest COSs were converted into CAPS or SCAR markers. At present, two co-dominant SCAR markers encompassing a genetic window of 1.2 cM flank the Pat locus. Considering that these markers are orthologous to Arabidopsis genes, a positional cloning exploiting the tomato-Arabidopsis microsynteny seems to be a short-term objective.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center (TGRC), University of California, Davis, U.S.A., for provision of seed stocks of the introgression and substitution lines, and Riccardo Caccia, Pietro Mosconi and Irene Olimpieri for their valuable help with technical aspects of the research. This work was partially supported by the programme “Biotecnologie vegetali” financed by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies (Mi.P.A.F.), project No. 358/8.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Agrobiologia e Agrochimica, Sezione Genetica, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Via S.C. de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy

    D. Beraldi, M. E. Picarella, G. P. Soressi & A. Mazzucato

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  1. D. Beraldi
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  2. M. E. Picarella
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  3. G. P. Soressi
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  4. A. Mazzucato
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Correspondence to A. Mazzucato.

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Communicated by F. Salamini

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Beraldi, D., Picarella, M.E., Soressi, G.P. et al. Fine mapping of the parthenocarpic fruit (pat) mutation in tomato. Theor Appl Genet 108, 209–216 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-003-1442-6

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