Molecular charcterisation of Tangerine2 Mutant

The tangerine2 mutant identified from Diepoxybutadiene (DEB) mutagenized population of Solanum lycopersicum and the biochemical studies revealed that mutant fruits accumulate prolycopene instead of lycopene in ripened fruits. We have developed whole genome microarray expression profiling as a discovery platform to identify differentially expressed genes in fruits tangerine2 mutant in comparison to Wild type. Tomato fruit tissue samples from different stages of fruit ripening like Mature green, Breaker, Turning and Ripening stages of tangerine2 mutant and wild type was used for microarray gene expression analysis. Carotenoid pathway analysis of both mutant and wild type reveals that the absence of expression of Carotenoid isomerase (CRTISO) gene in the tangerine2 mutant, the gene which is involved in the isomerisation of prolycopene to lycopene. Four genes (PSY, PDS, CRTISO, CYCB) of the carotenoid pathway was quantified in the same RNA samples by real-time PCR, confirming that the variation of the gene expression in Tangerine2 mutant. Organism : Solanum lycopersicum , Agilent Tomato Gene Expression 8x60k Array (AMADID: 065951) designed by Geotypic Technology Private limited