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A chimeric transcript containing Psy1 and a potential mRNA is associated with yellow flesh color in tomato accession PI 114490

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Abstract

Carotenoid content is the primary determinant of fruit color that affects nutritional value and appearance in tomato. Phytoene synthase (PSY) is the key regulatory enzyme in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway. Absent function of PSY1 in tomato fruit results in yellow flesh phenotype. We, here, report that two different transcripts, a wild-type (Psy1) and a chimeric mRNA (Psy1/Unknown), exist in a yellow-fruited tomato accession PI 114490. Psy1/Unknown is generated by joining exons from two different genes, Psy1 and an unknown gene, transcribed using both complementary DNA strands. The Psy1 shows low expression in the fruit of PI 114490, while the expression of Psy1/Unknown in the fruit of PI 114490 shows the same pattern as Psy1 in red fruit. The PSY1/Unknown has a lower function than PSY1 in a bacterial expression system. Coincidence of one single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the fourth intron and one simple sequence repeat (SSR) with 19 AT repeats in the downstream sequence of Psy1 gene with Psy1/Unknown in a set of yellow-fruited tomato lines indicates that Psy1/Unknown might be caused by the SNP and/or SSR. One possible explanation of these observations is trans-splicing. Severely reduced Psy1 transcript caused by Psy1/Unknown results in low accumulation of carotenoid and yellow flesh in PI 114490.

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Abbreviations

PSY:

Phytoene synthase

GGPP:

Geranylgeranyl diphosphate

SNP:

Single-nucleotide polymorphism

SSR:

Simple sequence repeat

MG:

Mature green

B:

Breaker

R:

Ripe

RACE:

Rapid amplification of cDNA ends

ORF:

Open reading frame

RT-PCR:

Reverse-transcription PCR

qRT-PCR:

Quantitative real-time RT-PCR

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

RPHPLC:

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

SL:

Spliced leader

trans-IPP-HH:

Trans-isoprenyl diphosphate synthase

UTR:

Untranslated region

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. David M. Francis and Dr. Esther van der Knaap at the Ohio State University (USA), Tomato Genetics Resource Center at University of California (Davis, USA), and Dr. Haishan Zhu at Yunnan Agricultural University for providing seeds of tomato lines used in this study. We also thank Dr. Francis X. Cunningham, Jr. at the University of Maryland (USA) for providing the plasmid pAC85-b and Dr. David M. Francis for his help in blasting the transcriptome of PI 114490. The work was partially supported by National Program on Key Basic Research Projects (The 973 Program: 2012CB113900) and The National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics Open Research Projects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, Department of Vegetable Science, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan Xilu, Beijing, 100193, China

    Baoshan Kang, Liangjun Xiao, Haipeng Cao & Wencai Yang

  2. Zhengzhou Fruit Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou, 450009, China

    Baoshan Kang, Qinsheng Gu & Peng Tian

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  1. Baoshan Kang
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  2. Qinsheng Gu
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  3. Peng Tian
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  4. Liangjun Xiao
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  6. Wencai Yang
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Correspondence to Wencai Yang.

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Kang, B., Gu, Q., Tian, P. et al. A chimeric transcript containing Psy1 and a potential mRNA is associated with yellow flesh color in tomato accession PI 114490. Planta 240, 1011–1021 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-014-2052-z

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