Science · 2000 · 1.4K citations · 8 references
Life SciencesGeneticsPlant SciencesPlant Developmental BiologyPlant GeneticsQuantitative GeneticsDomestication GenomicsFruit GrowthGenome Evolution In PlantsPlant Developmental GeneticsQuantitative Trait InheritanceQuantitative Trait LociFruit Developmental GeneticsFruit Size ControlFruit Size EvolutionFruit Size IncreaseFruit Size RegulationGene Action AnalysisGenetic Architecture Of TraitsSingle-gene Inheritance
Domestication of many plants, including tomato, has led to dramatic fruit size increases, largely driven by the fw2.2 QTL that encodes the ORFX gene controlling carpel cell number. Introducing a cosmid containing the fw2.2 region from a small‑fruited wild tomato into large‑fruited cultivars reduced fruit size by the predicted amount, confirming that fw2.2 acts through regulatory changes rather than protein sequence alterations.
Domestication of many plants has correlated with dramatic increases in fruit size. In tomato, one quantitative trait locus (QTL), fw2.2 , was responsible for a large step in this process. When transformed into large-fruited cultivars, a cosmid derived from the fw2.2 region of a small-fruited wild species reduced fruit size by the predicted amount and had the gene action expected for fw2.2 . The cause of the QTL effect is a single gene, ORFX , that is expressed early in floral development, controls carpel cell number, and has a sequence suggesting structural similarity to the human oncogene c-H- ras p21. Alterations in fruit size, imparted by fw2.2 alleles, are most likely due to changes in regulation rather than in the sequence and structure of the encoded protein.
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Rong-Lin Wang, Adrian O. Stec, Jody Hey et al. · Nature · 1999 · 732 citations
Kevin B. Alpert, Steven D. Tanksley · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 1996 · 227 citations · Full text