IMPROVING CONSUMER ACCEPTABILITY OF COMMERCIAL TOMATOES

Having the genomes of many modern cultivars, including the most common commercial Florida variety Florida 47 as well as the University of Florida elite inbred line, Fla. 8059 (Scott et al. 2008), we have determined what flavor alleles are missing from modern cultivars. With that knowledge in hand, we have identified eleven loci, that upon introgression of the alternate alleles into modern cultivars, should significantly improve flavor. Each of these loci is defined by the most significantly correlated SNP. Here we propose a work plan to introgress sets of these important loci into FLA 8059, which we hypothesize will increase its flavor. These loci affect sets of important volatiles derived from carotenoids, amino acids and fatty acids. Most of these loci appear to be either dominant or semi-dominant. So there is the potential to have rapid impact on commercial hybrids produced from the improved FLA 8059.To obtain superior loci having the largest effects on the broadest range of volatile classes, we started with four heirloom accessions: Brandywine, Maglia Rosa Cherry, Peacevine Cherry and Red Currant. Since three of the four parents are cherry tomatoes, a substantial amount of backcrossing will be needed to maintain the high level of productivity of Fla. 8059. We have already begun the introgression process as part of our prior CRIS project. For several of these loci we are already at the backcross 5 (BC5) generation. Others are only at BC2. With four separate tracks of introgression, it will also be necessary to stack the traits in a single background.The specific objectives are:Produce four backcrossed Fla. 8059-derived lines that contain superior flavor alleles.Stack the alleles derived from each heirloom parent in a single elite lineTest the volatile composition of each backcrossed line to validate the effects of having the superior allele.Test each line when it reaches BC5 with a consumer preference panel.Test the agronomic performance (yield, fruit shape, size and overall vigor) in the field using accepted commercial cultivation practices.Release a finished variety with superior flavor validated by consumer panel