A chemical genetic roadmap to improved tomato flavor

• DOI: 10.1126/science.aal1556
• Publication Date: 2017-01-26T19:12:13Z
• Authors: Denise Tieman; Guangtao Zhu; Marcio F. R. Resende; Tao Lin; Cuong Nguyen; Dawn Bies; Jose Luis Rambla; Kristty Stephanie...; Mark Taylor; Bo Zhang; Hiroki Ikeda; Zhongyuan Liu; Josef Fisher; Itay Zemach; Antonio Monforte; Dani Zamir; Antonio Granell; Matias Kirst; Sanwen Huang; Harry Klee
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 2. Zero hunger; Volatile Organic Compounds; Carbohydrates; DNA Shuffling; Ketones; Chromosomes, Plant; Plant Breeding; 03 medical and health sciences; Solanum lycopersicum; Genetic Loci; Taste; BIOQUIMICA Y BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR; Alleles; Genome-Wide Association Study

Looking for lost flavor in tomatoesCommercially available tomatoes are renowned these days for sturdiness, but perhaps not for flavor. Heirloom varieties, on the other hand, maintain the richer flavors and sweeter tomatoes of years past. Tiemanet al.combined tasting panels with chemical and genomic analyses of nearly 400 varieties of tomatoes. They identified some of the flavorful components that have been lost over time. Identification of the genes that have also gone missing provides a path forward for reinstating flavor to commercially grown tomatoes.Science, this issue p.391