Increasing γ-Aminobutyric Acid Content in Dwarf Cherry Tomato Using CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Gene Editing

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is considered an important bioactive compound that improves sleep quality and regulates blood pressure. Tomatoes are an ideal horticultural crop that can accumulate a high level of GABA in fruits. The development of higher-GABA tomatoes has significant market potential. In this study, we edited the SlGAD3 gene to increase GABA content in the dwarf cherry tomato, WEIMEI T102. After transformation using the Agrobacterium-mediated method, we identified several SlGAD3 mutation lines, which showed changed GABA levels compared to the recipient line. Molecular characterization showed stable trait inheritance for multiple generations. The GABA level in fruits also stably accumulated for multiple generations, which significantly increased up to about 1.9 mg/g FW in E13-13. These results indicate that it is feasible to increase the GABA content in dwarf cherry tomatoes by using gene editing technology.