Somatic instability of carotenoid biosynthesis in the tomato ghost mutant and its effect on plastid development

Scolnik, P. A., Hinton, P., Greenblatt, I. M., Giuliano, G., Delanoy, M. R., Spector, D. L., Pollock, D. (May 1987) Somatic instability of carotenoid biosynthesis in the tomato ghost mutant and its effect on plastid development. Planta, 171 (1). pp. 11-8. ISSN 0032-0935 (Print)0032-0935

Abstract

The tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum (L.) Mill.) ghost plant is a mutant of the San Marzano cultivar affected in carotenoid biosynthesis. ghost plants exhibit a variable pattern of pigment biosynthesis during development. Cotyledons are green but true leaves are white. Green sectors, which appear to be clonal in origin, are frequently observed in the white tissue. Because of the lack of photosynthesis ghost plants have a very low viability in soil. We have developed a strategy for propagating ghost plants that employs organ culture to generate variegated green-white plants which, supported by the photosynthetic green areas, develop in soil to almost wild-type size. These plants were used to analyze the pigment content of the different tissues observed during development and plastid ultrastructure. Cotyledons and green leaves contain both colored carotenoids and chlorophyll but only the colorless carotenoid phytoene accumulates in white leaves. the plastids in the white tissue of ghost leaves lack internal membrane structures but normal chloroplasts can be observed in the green areas. The chromoplasts of white fruits are also impaired in their ability to form thylakoid membranes.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > genes, structure and function
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > mutations
organism description > plant
organism description > plant > tomato
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Spector lab
Depositing User: Matt Covey
Date: May 1987
Date Deposited: 26 Mar 2014 20:18
Last Modified: 29 Jan 2015 20:49
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/29709

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