Differential Expression Pattern of Lignin Biosynthetic Genes in Dwarf Cherry Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme)

Cherry tomatoes are highly nutritious, flavory with a pleasant taste and are becoming increasingly popular to the consumers. The cherry tomato cv. ‘Minichal’ produced some dwarf plants along with normal plants. Lignin, a phenolic biopolymer is the key component of cell walls in plants. Here, we analyzed lignin biosynthesis-related genes in leaves, inflorescences and fruits of dwarf and normal cherry tomato plants by reverse-transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Among analyzed genes, SlCCOAOMT1, SlCCOAOMT2, SlCCOAOMT3, SlF5H, and SlCOMT showed significantly higher expressions, in leaf and inflorescence of dwarf plants compared with the normal plants, while SlPAL1 showed a significantly higher expression only in the leaves. On the contrary, SlHCT and SlC3H showed significantly lower expression levels in the leaves and inflorescences of dwarf plants compared with normal ones. The results suggest that SlHCT and SlC3H might have an impact on the dwarf cherry tomato plants.