Flavor and nutritional quality are highly complex traits that make them difficult targets for traditional approaches for crop improvement. Tomato is the established model for fruit development, genetics and biochemistry and has recently been targeted for genome sequencing by an international consortium of ten nations. This project targets the improvement of flavor and nutrition, identifying genes involved in synthesis of essential metabolites. The diverse and well-characterized tomato germplasm will be evaluated with high throughput metabolite screens to identify lines altered in flavor and nutrient composition. An integrated genetic, genomic and bioinformatic approach will be employed for the purpose of isolating the genes responsible for the genetic variation. In the first phase of the program, multiple genetic loci that influence fruit composition were identified and a public database was established to disseminate the collected information (http://tomet.bti.cornell.edu/). These resources will be expanded in order to identify genes controlling synthesis of ~30 metabolites with major functions in flavor and nutrient quality. At completion, the public will have access to data for over 200 fruit metabolites and expression data for approximately 10,000 genes assayed across 75 tomato lines. This research has broad implications for flavor and nutrition in the human diet. Identification of genes controlling flavor and nutrient quality will positively impact traditional breeding and biotechnology programs with direct end user impact. The program will provide training for students and postdoctoral associates in a broad range of genetic, genomic, bioinformatic and biochemical techniques. There is a strong emphasis on training opportunities for collaborators at predominantly minority institutions. While this program addresses important attributes of a major agricultural crop, the findings will be directly applicable to many other important crops grown in the US and worldwide.
