(800-124) Identification of potential interactors from the OFP, TRM and SUN families to investigate the molecular mechanisms of organ morphogenesis in tomato
Body of Abstract: Members of the OFP, TRM and SUN families are known to regulate plant organ morphogenesis. However, the interaction among members of these three families and their effect on shape is only partially understood. Moreover, the underlying molecular mechanisms of plant morphology that is controlled by these three families also remain unclear. For this, we analyzed a single-nuclei RNA-sequencing (snRNAseq) dataset of shoot apical meristem from 2-week-old tomato seedlings. We focused on genes from OFP, TRM and SUN families, and conducted heatmap clustering, correlation analysis, and Gene Ontology enrichment analysis for co-expressed genes and biological or molecular pathways the candidate genes could be involved. Importantly, we created nearly isogenic lines (NILs) carrying natural mutation alleles of the known tomato fruit shape genes in a common genetic background as well as knock-out mutations by CRISPR-Cas9 editing in other members of the family in the same background. Additional mutant combinations based on data analysis were also investigated in the leaf and fruit shape to validate the hypothesis that these coregulated genes interact to control organ morphology in tomato. Given that organ shape regulation mechanism is conserved in diverse crops, furthering our understanding into the molecular mechanisms in tomato should provide insights into the plant organ shape regulatory. This work is funded by NSF IOS 2048425.