Releasing a sugar brake generates sweeter tomato without yield penalty

In tomato, sugar content is highly correlated with consumer preferences, with most consumers preferring sweeter fruit<sup>1-4</sup>. However, the sugar content of commercial varieties is generally low, as it is inversely correlated with fruit size, and growers prioritize yield over flavour quality<sup>5-7</sup>. Here we identified two genes, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) calcium-dependent protein kinase 27 (SlCDPK27; also known as SlCPK27) and its paralogue SlCDPK26, that control fruit sugar content. They act as sugar brakes by phosphorylating a sucrose synthase, which promotes degradation of the sucrose synthase. Gene-edited SlCDPK27 and SlCDPK26 knockouts increased glucose and fructose contents by up to 30%, enhancing perceived sweetness without fruit weight or yield penalty. Although there are fewer, lighter seeds in the mutants, they exhibit normal germination. Together, these findings provide insight into the regulatory mechanisms controlling fruit sugar accumulation in tomato and offer opportunities to increase sugar content in large-fruited cultivars without sacrificing size and yield.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature
Published
2024-11-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08186-2
Citations
86
Primary Topic
Greenhouse Technology and Climate Control
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
51.57
Controls
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article

Releasing a sugar brake generates sweeter tomato without yield penalty

Xue Cao, Guangtao Zhu, Liang Ma, Zhiguo Zhu et al.
86 citations
Nature
Greenhouse Technology and Climate Control
51.57
article

Releasing a sugar brake generates sweeter tomato without yield penalty

Xue Cao, Guangtao Zhu, Liang Ma, Zhiguo Zhu, Harry J. Klee, Sanwen Huang, Hongjun Lyu, Yaqing Lyu, Kui Zhong, Ran Du, Zhangjun Fei, Ruhong Zhou, Jie Chen, Jinzhe Zhang, Nan Wang, Yanling Wang, Jie Wang, Yongfeng Zhou, Tao Lin, J. Rao
article en
86 citations

Abstract

In tomato, sugar content is highly correlated with consumer preferences, with most consumers preferring sweeter fruit<sup>1-4</sup>. However, the sugar content of commercial varieties is generally low, as it is inversely correlated with fruit size, and growers prioritize yield over flavour quality<sup>5-7</sup>. Here we identified two genes, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) calcium-dependent protein kinase 27 (SlCDPK27; also known as SlCPK27) and its paralogue SlCDPK26, that control fruit sugar content. They act as sugar brakes by phosphorylating a sucrose synthase, which promotes degradation of the sucrose synthase. Gene-edited SlCDPK27 and SlCDPK26 knockouts increased glucose and fructose contents by up to 30%, enhancing perceived sweetness without fruit weight or yield penalty. Although there are fewer, lighter seeds in the mutants, they exhibit normal germination. Together, these findings provide insight into the regulatory mechanisms controlling fruit sugar accumulation in tomato and offer opportunities to increase sugar content in large-fruited cultivars without sacrificing size and yield.

NatureVol. 635(8039)
Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CN), Yunnan Normal University (CN), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN), Cornell University (US), Beijing Botanical Garden (CN), Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen (CN), Institute of Vegetables and Flowers (CN), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN), China National Institute of Standardization (CN), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (CN), Institute of Botany (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), China Agricultural University (CN)
Zero hunger
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Greenhouse Technology and Climate Control
51.57
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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