Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bleeker, Petra M
• Mirabella, Rossana
• Diergaarde, Paul J
• VanDoorn, Arjen
• Tissier, Alain
• Kant, Merijn R
• Prins, Marcel
• de Vos, Martin
• Haring, Michel A
• Schuurink, Robert C

Titel

Improved herbivore resistance in cultivated tomato with the sesquiterpene biosynthetic pathway from a wild relative

Ist Teil von

• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 2012-12, Vol.109 (49), p.20124-20129

Ort / Verlag

United States: National Academy of Sciences

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Tomato breeding has been tremendously efficient in increasing fruit quality and quantity but did not focus on improving herbivore resistance. The biosynthetic pathway for the production of 7-epizingiberene in a wild tomato was introduced into a cultivated greenhouse variety with the aim to obtain herbivore resistance. 7-Epizingiberene is a specific sesquiterpene with toxic and repellent properties that is produced and stored in glandular trichomes. We identified 7-epizingiberene synthase (ShZIS) that belongs to a new class of sesquiterpene synthases, exclusively using Z-Z- farnesyl-diphosphate (zFPP) in plastids, probably arisen through neo-functionalization of a common ancestor. Expression of the ShZIS and zFPP synthases in the glandular trichomes of cultivated tomato resulted in the production of 7-epizingiberene. These tomatoes gained resistance to several herbivores that are pests of tomato. Hence, introduction of this sesquiterpene biosynthetic pathway into cultivated tomatoes resulted in improved herbivore resistance.