The tomato is the the reigning queen of the average Israeli salad – and now
Israel is giving back by aiding an international effort to decode its
genome.
The Tomato Genome Consortium started work in 2003, when
scientists analyzed the DNA sequence of tomatoes using the most modern equipment
available at the time. Fortunately, with the recent introduction of so-called
“next generation sequencing” technologies, the speed of data output increased
500-fold and enabled the project to move on efficiently to its
conclusion.
The tomato genome – both the domesticated type and its wild
ancestor, Solanum pimpinellifolium – has been sequenced for the first time by
the consortium’s 300-member team of scientists in Argentina, Belgium, China,
France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the Netherlands, the
United Kingdom and the US – and at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem group included Prof. Dani Zamir of the
university’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and
Environment.
The Tomato Genome Consortium’s achievement – an important
tool for further development of tomato production – appears in a report in the
May 31 issue of the prestigious journal Nature.
When Columbus brought
tomato seeds from America back to the old world some 500 years ago, he probably
never imagined that the redorange fruit would be such a major contributor to
human nutrition, health, culinary pleasure and international
cooperation.
The tomato genetic code contains 35,000 genes –
significantly fewer than the estimated 24,000 in the human genome. The new
knowledge provides a means to match DNA sequences with specific traits that are
important for human well-being or taste, such as flavor, aroma, color and
yield.
In addition to improving the tomato, the genome sequence provides
a way to study closely related plants such as the potato, pepper, petunia and
even coffee. These species all have similar sets of genes, even thought they
look very different.
How can a similar set of “genetic blueprints”
empower diverse plants with different adaptations, characteristics and economic
products? This challenging question is the subject of exploration that involves
comparing biodiversity and traits of the tomato and its relatives.
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