The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the world’s most cultivated and consumed vegetables, but centuries of domestication and selective breeding for practical purposes like yield, resistance, and uniformity have greatly diminished its aromatic complexity. However, scientists have managed to unleash the plant’s aromatic potential through gene editing.
Focusing on the molecule 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP), known to produce the characteristic popcorn aroma in aromatic rice, a team of Chinese and Australian researchers deactivated two genes in the commercial tomato variety Alisa Craig and got a very surprising effect.
SlBADH1 and SlBADH2, two homologous genes in the tomato known to regulate the production of 2-AP, were deactivated using CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology. Researchers found that the SlBADH2 mutation significantly increased 2-AP levels, while suppressing both genes increased them more than 4 times over the control tomato, which confirmed the synergistic effect between the two genes.
“To identify BADH2 homologs in tomato, we screened the tomato reference genome, two putative SlBADH genes were identified in tomato, defined as SlBADH1 and SlBADH2, respectively,” Shengchun Xu, a professor at Xianghu Laboratory, China, wrote in the Journal of Integrative Agriculture. “The CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated genome editing technology was used to knock out individual or both SlBADH1 and SlBADH2 gene in the variety AC (Alisa Craig).”
Interestingly, the genetic modifications did not impact any essential agronomic traits like flowering time, plant height, fruit weight, soluble sugars, organic acids, and vitamin C content. The researchers involved in this unique experiment are confident that this is a significant step toward boosting the aroma of tomatoes withiut sacrificing yield.
If you’re not a fan of popcorn, you might not be looking forward to finding popcorn-scented tomaotes on supermarket shelves, but scientists believe that the development of aroma-enhanced tomatoes could pave the way for tailored flavor profiles, thus revolutionizing the horticultural market.
“Ongoing work aims to introduce this fragrance to elite commercial cultivars, which may enhance their flavor complexity, potentially improving consumer preference and market value, like fragrant rice varieties.” study co-author Peng Zheng, an associate professor at Xianghu Laboratory, said.
