Identification and characterization of metabolite quantitative trait loci in tomato leaves and comparison with those reported for fruits and seeds

Abstract

IntroductionTo date, most studies of natural variation and metabolite quantitative trait loci (mQTL) in tomato have focused on fruit metabolism, leaving aside the identification of genomic regions involved in the regulation of leaf metabolism.ObjectiveThis study was conducted to identify leaf mQTL in tomato and to assess the association of leaf metabolites and physiological traits with the metabolite levels from other tissues.MethodsThe analysis of components of leaf metabolism was performed by phenotypying 76 tomato ILs with chromosome segments of the wild species Solanum pennellii in the genetic background of a cultivated tomato (S. lycopersicum) variety M82. The plants were cultivated in two different environments in independent years and samples were harvested from mature leaves of non-flowering plants at the middle of the light period. The non-targeted metabolite profiling was obtained by gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS). With the data set obtained in this study and already published metabolomics data from seed and fruit, we performed QTL mapping, heritability and correlation analyses.ResultsChanges in metabolite contents were evident in the ILs that are potentially important with respect to stress responses and plant physiology. By analyzing the obtained data, we identified 42 positive and 76 negative mQTL involved in carbon and nitrogen metabolism.ConclusionsOverall, these findings allowed the identification of S. lycopersicum genome regions involved in the regulation of leaf primary carbon and nitrogen metabolism, as well as the association of leaf metabolites with metabolites from seeds and fruits.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s11306-019-1503-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Quantitative trait loci analysis of seed‐specialized metabolites reveals seed‐specific flavonols and differential regulation of glycoalkaloid content in tomato

“…To accomplish this aim, we initially employed metabolite profiling of seeds from tomato ILs containing segmental substitutions of the wild species in the genetic background of the cultivar M82. Most previous studies in tomato, focused on identifying mQTL in fruits and leaf tissues (Fridman et al ., 2004; Schauer et al ., 2006, 2008; Stevens et al ., 2007; Do et al ., 2010; Maloney et al , 2010; Schilmiller et al ., 2010, 2012, Ruan et al , 2012; Quadrana et al ., 2014; Nunes‐Nesi et al ., 2019). Few studies have investigated the regulation of seed metabolism in tomato and those published studies focused on seed primary metabolism (Toubiana et al ., 2012, 2015).…”

“…In tomato, a set of 76 introgression lines (ILs) was developed by crossing the cultivated Solanum lycopersicum with its distant wild relative Solanum pennellii (Eshed and Zamir, 1995). This population has been used to study the natural variation of primary metabolites in fruit (Schauer et al ., 2006, 2008; Do et al ., 2010), leaves (Nunes‐Nesi et al ., 2019) and seeds (Toubiana et al ., 2012, 2015). In this population quantitative trail loci (QTL), analyses have also been carried out on volatile metabolites, antioxidants, pigments, cell wall components, lipids and acyl sugars (Liu et al ., 2003; Rousseaux et al ., 2005; Tieman et al ., 2006a,b; Fraser et al ., 2007; Schilmiller et al ., 2010; Quadrana et al ., 2014; Garbowicz et al ., 2018).…”

Advances in Omics Approaches for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Tomato

“…Recently, Nunes-Nesi et al, 2019 conducted a study to identify leaf mQTL in tomato that are potentially important with respect to stress responses and plant physiology. The study identified 42 positive and 76 negative mQTL which are involved in the regulation of leaf primary carbon and nitrogen metabolism [91]. Indeed, metabolomic studies in tomato have increased our understanding of several metabolite networks and pathways related to many economic traits.…”

Network Analysis Provides Insight into Tomato Lipid Metabolism

“…Studies also focused on tomato seeds because their oil is an excellent source of important fatty acids involved in plant growth [36,37]. Following research has also been extended to other tissues, e.g., tomato leaves [31,38].…”