Tomato Plant Mutations (IMAGE)
Caption
The artwork illustrates how one mutation arose during domestication of the berry-sized wild relative of tomato and enlarged the leaf-like organs on fruits (right path). The second mutation was discovered in the last century and eliminated the abscission zone on fruit stems, providing the "jointless" trait that reduced fruit drop and facilitated mechanical harvesting (left path). However, because of an interaction between the two genes, combining both mutations during breeding resulted in excessive branching that reduced fertility (center). By reorganizing the genetic combinations of these mutations, the authors achieved weakly branched inflorescences that gave higher yield (bottom).
Credit
Beata Edyta Mierzwa, beatascienceart.com
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