Disassembly of the fruit cell wall by the ripening-associated polygalacturonase and expansin influences tomato cracking

Abstract

Crop genetics: Keeping tomato skins together Researchers in the USA reveal a link between cell wall composition and splitting skin in ripe tomatoes, known as cracking. To unravel the mechanism behind cracking, a team led by Elizabeth Mitcham of the University of California, Davis, compared wild-type tomato plants, mutant plants with increased soluble solids, and mutant plants with altered cell wall structure. They treated the three lines with the hormone ABA to induce cracking and measured several traits in the fruit. ABA treatment did not affect cracking incidence in the cell wall mutant but increased its frequency in the other two lines. Cell wall composition and thickness were the traits with the strongest correlation with cracking rate. Altogether, these findings show that cell wall structure is a major determinant of cracking and point the way towards reducing skin splitting in tomatoes.