The KARMA Project

[KarenO]

Originally Posted by jmsieglaff

One of my favorite Tville threads! Can't wait to see more this summer! Thanks for all your posts on this project!

Thanks! I'll be potting up next week, will post some pics of the f4's
KarenO

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by jmsieglaff

One of my favorite Tville threads! Can't wait to see more this summer! Thanks for all your posts on this project!

Thanks you so much!

Originally Posted by KarenO

Thanks! I'll be potting up next week, will post some pics of the f4's
KarenO

I am looking forward to them.
Karen, did you see the photos of those volunteer F4 purples? The multiflora trait is captured. I think you must of, but I think we all got caught up in the locule number discussion, which is really interesting to me.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by bower

Ok I took a minute to go digging and here is a quote I dug out of my text file of notes. It sounds like "two to three locules" is the wild type. I seem to recall another paper with great pics though that distinguished between the classic 2-locule cherry and a 3-locule wild type.
Al Kuffa comes to mind as a three locule fruit, I thought they were soooo cute.
"Front Plant Sci. 2014 May 27;5:227. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2014.00227. eCollection 2014.
What lies beyond the eye: the molecular mechanisms regulating tomato fruit weight and shape.
van der Knaap E1, Chakrabarti M1, Chu YH1, Clevenger JP1, Illa-Berenguer E1, Huang Z1, Keyhaninejad N1, Mu Q1, Sun L1, Wang Y2, Wu S1.

"LOCULE NUMBER

LOCULE NUMBER (LC) controls the number of carpel primordia and a mutation results in a fruit with more than the typical two to three locules (Barrero et al., 2006; Munos et al., 2011). Increases in locule number often lead to a flat fruit of a larger size and the mutation is common in beefsteak tomato and tomatoes on the vine (Munos et al., 2011; Rodriguez et al., 2011) (Figure ​(Figure1C).1C). Since carpel primordia arise early in floral development, it is likely this gene functions in regulating meristem size and/or in the initiation of organ primordia.

Fasciated

The mutation in FASCIATED (f or fas) leads to increases in locule number with more pronounced effects on locule number than lc (Lippman and Tanksley, 2001). fas is found in certain heirloom tomatoes and a few commercially grown beefsteak varieties (Rodriguez et al., 2011) (Figures 1B,C).
...Significant epistatic interactions have been detected between lc and fas (Lippman and Tanksley, 2001; Barrero and Tanksley, 2004), suggesting that both genes act together by co-regulating a core pathway that controls locule number.....Because of the function of YABBY family proteins and its expression pattern, we consider that FAS is controlling the second stage of final fruit size and shape regulation by impacting meristem organization and boundary information...
In near-isogenic lines (NILs) using the wild species LA1589 as the background, the impact of these two genes on locule number is much less dramatic (Figure ​(Figure5B),5B), supporting the notion that in the cultivated background modifiers of these mutations exist. "

Anyhoo, LC and fas are the main genes that affect multi loculism.

OK, I had time to study this and just had my coffee, so here is what I think I learned. LC has the effect on locule number right as the bud is forming, and fas has the effect on increasing locule number and fruit size later on in the formation of the fruit, as well as fruit shape. And for larger fruit selecting, you should find as many locules as you can. And there may be modifiers to shape due to genes that control polarity. (YABBY)

What I still don't get is how one single plant has all the same combo of LC, fas, etc, but 2 different fruit of the same size will have different locules numbers from that same plant.I am thinking that there is an environmental effect such as temperature too.

Bower, please also do fix my thinking if I didn't learn correctly from your postings. And I know you spent quite a bit of time researching to find these to post, many thanks.

[KarenO]

Agree it's not just genetic. I think pollination has an influence. Also compound blossoms as I mention above.
KarenO

[bower]

Yeah, when you think about the amount of variation from fruit to fruit in an OP beefsteak... yup pollination, environment, and whatever factor feeds into differences in the flower bud, from the start and also along the way. Even the number of 'sibling' buds seems to affect the individual outcomes. The great Mysteries!!!

[KarenO]

F4 karmas are among this group of seedlings I am hardening off.
There are 2 F5 groups growing under lights just getting leaves. The pink and the bicolour GWR cherry that Marsha discovered this spring

[ginger2778]

Those are beautiful.

[imp]

Still watching and reading and learning from this thread ; mostly, though, cheering you guys on!!!!

[KarenO]

F5 pink and F5 green and pink bicolour cherries planted after the F4's but growing fast. Close to potting these up and moving them outside to the cold frame.

[ginger2778]

Beautiful strong looking babies already. Look how big those Pls already are.

[Salsacharley]

PL Cherries! Wow!

[KarenO]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Beautiful strong looking babies already. Look how big those Pls already are.

The green and pink bi , planted last look especially uniform at this early stage. All 6 look pretty much identical which is cool.
K

[efisakov]

So exciting! Great job, ladies.

[KarenO]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

PL Cherries! Wow!

Yessiree and the real wow is the taste! We are excited about these and once they are stable we hope some 🍅Ville people will want to trial them! Stay tuned

KarenO

[KarenO]

Coming along well, the F4's beginning to bloom, the F5's hardening off, will join these at the end of the well in their big boy pots and the gardens
KarenO