Abstract
Organic acids, produced as intermediates of the tricarboxylic cycle, play a crucial role in the plant primary metabolism and are considered as being ones of the most important quality traits in edible fruits. Even if they are key metabolites in a multitude of cellular functions, little is known about their physiological relevance and regulation. Transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerase, which converts reversibly maleate to fumarate, were generated in order to improve our knowledge about the role of organic acids in the crop and fruit metabolism. Growth and reproduction were affected by the unbalance of tricarboxylic cycle intermediates, as a dwarf phenotype and a flowering delay were observed in the transgenic plants. In addition, a delay in chlorophyll synthesis, a decrease in the numbers of stomata and significant changes in some photosynthetic parameters indicated alterations in central primary metabolism. Postharvest was also impaired, as transgenic fruits showed increased water lost and deterioration, indicating a possible role of the organic acids in cell wall metabolism. Finally, preliminary metabolomics analysis pointed out important changes during fruit ripening in flavor-related metabolites, such as acids and sugars, revealing the importance of organic acids in fruit metabolism. Taken together, these data indicate a pivotal role of tricarboxylic cycle intermediates, such as malate or fumarate, as regulatory metabolites. Besides their role in quality fruit characteristics, they are involved in a multitude of functions including growth and photosynthesis.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed other-oa. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Transgenic tomato plants showed a dwarf phenotype.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Material
- transgenice1
- Treatment
- expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerasee1
- Outcome
- dwarf phenotypee2
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerase”
e2“Growth and reproduction were affected by the unbalance of tricarboxylic cycle intermediates, as a dwarf phenotype and a flowering delay were observed in the transgenic plants”
Claim · model-written summary
Transgenic tomato plants showed a flowering delay.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerasee1
- Outcome
- flowering delaye2
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerase”
e2“Growth and reproduction were affected by the unbalance of tricarboxylic cycle intermediates, as a dwarf phenotype and a flowering delay were observed in the transgenic plants”
Claim · model-written summary
Transgenic tomato plants showed a delay in chlorophyll synthesis.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerasee1
- Outcome
- chlorophyll synthesise3
- Direction
- delaye3
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerase”
e3“In addition, a delay in chlorophyll synthesis, a decrease in the numbers of stomata and significant changes in some photosynthetic parameters indicated alterations in central primary metabolism”
Claim · model-written summary
Transgenic tomato plants had a decrease in the number of stomata.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerasee1
- Outcome
- numbers of stomatae3
- Direction
- decreasee3
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerase”
e3“In addition, a delay in chlorophyll synthesis, a decrease in the numbers of stomata and significant changes in some photosynthetic parameters indicated alterations in central primary metabolism”
Claim · model-written summary
Transgenic tomato plants showed significant changes in some photosynthetic parameters.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerasee1
- Outcome
- photosynthetic parameterse3
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerase”
e3“In addition, a delay in chlorophyll synthesis, a decrease in the numbers of stomata and significant changes in some photosynthetic parameters indicated alterations in central primary metabolism”
Claim · model-written summary
Transgenic tomato fruits showed increased water loss and deterioration after harvest.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerasee1
- Outcome
- water lost and deterioratione4
- Direction
- increasede4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerase”
e4“Postharvest was also impaired, as transgenic fruits showed increased water lost and deterioration”
Claim · model-written summary
Preliminary metabolomics of tomato fruit showed important changes in flavor-related metabolites such as acids and sugars during ripening.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Organ / stage
- fruit ripeninge5
- Outcome
- flavor-related metabolitese5
- Qualifier
- preliminary metabolomics analysise5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants expressing constitutively a bacterial maleate isomerase”
e5“preliminary metabolomics analysis pointed out important changes during fruit ripening in flavor-related metabolites, such as acids and sugars”