2nd International Molecular Plant Protection Congress, Bursa, Türkiye, 15 - 18 Mayıs 2023, ss.52
Weeds are among the most important factors that cause significant yield and quality losses in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Thanks to the strigolactone (SL) compounds synthesized from the tomato roots of the fully parasitic broomrape
(Orobanche/Phelipanche spp.), they weaken the plant and
even cause plant death by feeding from the root after germination in the soil. In this study, it was aimed to obtain genetically resistant tomato lines against broomrape with the
CRISPR/Cas9 system designed to modify the “Carotenoid
cleavage dioxygenase 7” (SlCCD7) gene, which is involved in
the SL pathway in tomato. As a result of the transformation
via the Agrobacterium-mediated method, a mutation causing
a biallelic heterozygous deletion of 18 and 186 nucleotides (nt)
occurred in the T0 generation. The 186 nt unique mutation
resulted in an inframe modification between Thr42-Val105 in
the SlCCD7-exon 1 region that resulted in the deletion of 62
amino acids. In the T1 generation, 2 of the 4 plants with 186
nt homozygous deletion were identified as marker-free (not
carrying Cas9 gene). In plants carrying 186 nt homozygous
deletion, broomrape resistance was obtained without undesirable agro morphological changes. Genetic resistant lines
against broomrape can be used for commercial purposes in
upland-greenhouse cultivation, open field industry and table
tomato cultivation where solarization is not possible. It is predicted that the use of resistant varieties will greatly reduce the
yield and quality losses caused by the parasitic weed.