Fine Mapping of the brachytic Locus on the Tomato Genome

Abstract

Mechanization of farm work is increasingly demanded for the current system of fresh-market tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) production. One essential element for the adoption of mechanical harvest of fresh-market tomatoes is modification of plant architecture so that the crop can be grown without staking. To address this in the current production system, the stem length should be reduced. The tomato brachytic (br) locus has been shown to be a primary source of reducing stem length. To improve the effectiveness of marker-assisted selection (MAS) for the br-mediated trait and to provide resources for cloning this gene, we fine-mapped br to the tomato genome. Fine mapping of br to chromosome 1 was initiated by a survey of genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) shown to be polymorphic between the br phenotype and normal using the tomato array, identifying the interval that harbors br. Genetic markers that flank the locus further permitted saturation of the interval. Twenty-six fixed homozygous recombinant lines were identified together in two different populations and tested with those markers. These efforts resulted in the first report that the br is fine-mapped to a 763-kb physical interval of tomato reference genome. The identified markers close to the br in the present study will be significant resources for MAS and gene cloning research.