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Effects of suppressing the DNA mismatch repair system on homeologous recombination in tomato

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Abstract

In plant breeding, the ability to manipulate genetic (meiotic) recombination would be beneficial for facilitating gene transfer from wild relatives of crop plants. The DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system helps maintain genetic integrity by correcting base mismatches that arise via DNA synthesis or damage, and antagonizes recombination between homeologous (divergent) DNA sequences. Previous studies have established that the genomes of cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and the wild relative S. lycopersicoides are substantially diverged (homeologous) such that recombination between their chromosomes is strongly reduced. Here, we report the effects on homeologous recombination of suppressing endogenous MMR genes in S. lycopersicum via RNAi-induced silencing of SlMSH2 and SlMSH7 or overexpressing dominant negatives of Arabidopsis MSH2 (AtMSH2-DN) in an alien substitution line (SL-8) of S. lycopersicoides in tomato. We show that certain inhibitions of MMR (RNAi of SlMSH7, AtMSH2-DN) are associated with modest increases in homeologous recombination, ranging from 3.8 to 29.2% (average rate of 17.8%) compared to controls. Unexpectedly, only the AtMSH2-DN proteins but not RNAi-induced silencing of MSH2 was found to increase homeologous recombination. The ratio of single to double crossovers (SCO:DCO ratio) decreased by approximately 50% in progeny of the AtMSH2-DN parents. An increase in the frequency of heterozygous SL-8 plants was also observed in the progeny of the SlMSH7-RNAi parents. Our findings may contribute to acceleration of introgression in cultivated tomato.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of the C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center (especially Katie Schuller-Smith) for providing the substitution lines and plant horticultural assistance. This research was supported by grants from the USDA-NRI, 99-35300-7683, and 05-35301-15736.

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  1. Sheh May Tam

    Present address: School of Science, Monash University Sunway Campus, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 46150, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia

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  1. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Sheh May Tam & Roger T. Chetelat

  2. Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    John B. Hays

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  1. Sheh May Tam
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Correspondence to Roger T. Chetelat.

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Tam, S.M., Hays, J.B. & Chetelat, R.T. Effects of suppressing the DNA mismatch repair system on homeologous recombination in tomato. Theor Appl Genet 123, 1445–1458 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-011-1679-4

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