ALTERING TOMATO FRUIT SIZE BY MODULATION OF SAUR-PP2C.D ACTIVITY

The goal of this project is to test the hypothesis that tomato fruit size can be altered by transgenic manipulation of SAUR-PP2C.D function in developing fruits. If successful, project findings could lead to novel transgenic approaches for increasing or decreasing fruit size in a rapid, cultivar-independent manner.Objectives1. Express GFP-SAUR19 from a suite of tomato fruit-specific promoters and assess potential effects on fruit size.2. Express a SAUR-Immune mutant derivative of the PP2C.D.2 protein phosphatase from a suite of tomato fruit-specific promoters and assess potential effects on fruit size.