Genetic control of modified genomic region in a firm ripening tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) mutant

Abstract

Studies involving the firm tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) mutant have shown that pleiotropy or genetic linkage are responsible for modifications in morphological and postharvest traits. The objective of this report was to evaluate the hypothesis of pleiotropy or genetic linkage linked to morphologic traits and to verify the effect of QTL on fruit firmness. Plants of mutant firm and L. cheesmani were intercrossed; the F2 and F3 generations were analyzed for segregation of morphological traits and firmness, and the RAPD technique was used for the F2 population. Results showed that the recessive pleiotropic gene is responsible for the morphological traits, but environmental and/or genetic factors affect the penetrance and expressivity of the mutation. By the RAPD analysis, a QTL was detected in the group represented by the markers AS-08622, AQ-16747 and l-2 that explains 29.77% of the variation to fruit firmness.