Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8464 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2016 DESIGNER TOMATOES? They’re Almost Here According to researchers who spoke at the 2016 SolGenomics Conference, the future is now for this indispensable fruit. Marc Zienkiewicz The tomato is a crucial ingredient in a plethora of the world’s cuisine, which excites researchers like the University of Florida’s Harry Klee, who is on a mission to help plant breeders bring the first designer tomatoes to market. Klee and his research team have figured out exactly what makes certain tomato varieties taste good to certain people, and are on the cusp of giving breeders the tools they need to liter- ally design new tomato varieties with specific consumers in mind. “I think everyone is in agreement that many modern tomato varieties don’t taste as good as heirloom varieties,” says Klee, a professor in the Horticultural Sciences Department’s Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program. “We determined the main reason they’re not as good is they have low levels of certain flavor chemicals rela- tive to the old varieties. That gives us a roadmap for what flavor compounds we want to manipulate, and how much we need to increase them to get the flavor back to where it can be.” Partnering with Chinese researchers, Klee and his team have sequenced the genomes of 400 tomato varieties and identified the genetics of tomato flavor. The result is that breeders will be able to literally “repair” the flavor of tomatoes — flavor that’s been lost through years of breeding with mostly yield in mind. “We’re really beginning to figure out how to restore that flavor,” Klee says. He spoke about his new research, which will soon be published, at the 2016 SolGenomics Conference in Davis, Calif., which took place Sept. 12-16. The Harry Klee and his research team have figured out exactly what makes certain tomato varieties taste good to certain people, and are on the cusp of giving breeders the tools they need to literally design new tomato varieties with specific consumers in mind. annual event, in its 13th year, examines the latest advances in the applications of research to production of solanaceous crops, including tomato, pepper, potato, eggplant and petunia, to name a few. Tailored Tomatoes Partnering with University of Florida plant breeders, Klee is one of the people who assisted tomato breeder Jay Scott in developing the Tasti-Lee tomato, a vine-ripened variety that “brings signifi- cant improvements to health, flavor and freshness in grocery store tomatoes,” according to the Tasti-Lee website. Klee’s new research, he says, will serve to accelerate the development of such varieties beyond anyone’s imagination. Want to design a tomato that will go perfectly when used in spicy Mexican cuisine? How about one designed specifically to make the perfect spa- ghetti sauce? How about a tomato that will be prized by the ketchup industry? Breeders could soon be able to do it all. “I’m hopeful in the next few years you’ll see this translating into better- tasting tomatoes. When we do con- sumer panels, we collect a lot of data on the individuals in the panel, and we’ve defined specific differences in the popu- lation based on age, sex and ethnicity,” Klee says. And because different demograph- ics tend to prefer different flavors when it comes to cuisine, the results of Klee’s research could be used to tailor new tomatoes to these groups. “In practice, we can use the demo- graphic data to come up with the ideal tomato for men, women, children, toma- toes that go well in European food, Hispanic food, you name it. That’s not far-fetched at all.” He notes that such demographic data is used all the time to create scores of other products, so why not tomatoes? “Walk down the soda aisle and look at all the different types of cola. You’ve got regular cola, diet cola,