Anthocyanin tomato mutants: Overview and characterization of an anthocyanin-less somaclonal mutant

Abstract

Anthocyanins are secondary metabolites, which play important roles in the physiology of plants. In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), anthocyanins are normally synthesized only in vegetative tissues. M375 is a mutant unable to produce anthocyanins in leaves and stems. In this study, we investigated the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway in M375 and in its genetic background, Alice, in order to find out where the anthocyanin biosynthesis is blocked, along the pathway, in the mutant. Anthocyanins accumulation was enhanced by sucrose only in the wild type, even though the expression of several genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis was normal in both the genotypes. Genes coding for the final steps along the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway were, however, less expressed in the M375 when compared to the wild type.

Keywords:

• Anthocyanins
• gene expression
• Solanum lycopersicum L.
• sucrose
• tomato

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Prof. Gian Piero Soressi (Department of Agrobiology and Agrochemistry, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy) for providing us with the seeds of M375 (mutant) and its wild type Alice. This research was supported by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MiUR), PRIN2006, TomANTHO Project.