中国农业科学院黄三文课题组近日取得一项新成果。经过不懈努力，他们发现释放“糖刹车”会产生更甜的番茄，但不会影响产量。这一研究成果发表在2024年11月13日出版的国际学术期刊《自然》上。

研究人员发现了两个控制果实含糖量的基因，即番茄（Solanum lycopersicum）钙依赖性蛋白激酶27（SlCDPK27；又称SlCPK27）及其同源物SlCDPK26。它们通过磷酸化蔗糖合成酶，促进蔗糖合成酶的降解，从而起到“糖刹车“的作用。利用基因编辑敲除SlCDPK27和SlCDPK26可使葡萄糖和果糖含量增加30%，在不影响果实重量或产量的情况下提高甜度。

虽然突变体产生的种子数量较少、重量较轻，但它们的萌发正常。总之，这些研究结果使人们对控制番茄果实糖分积累的调控机制有了深入了解，并为在不牺牲果实大小和产量的情况下，提高大果栽培品种的糖分含量提供了可能。

研究人员表示，番茄的含糖量与消费者的喜好高度相关，大多数消费者喜欢更甜的水果。然而，商业番茄品种的含糖量普遍较低，因为它与果实大小成反比，并且种植者优先考虑的是产量而不是风味。

附：英文原文

Title: Releasing a sugar brake generates sweeter tomato without yield penalty

Author: Zhang, Jinzhe, Lyu, Hongjun, Chen, Jie, Cao, Xue, Du, Ran, Ma, Liang, Wang, Nan, Zhu, Zhiguo, Rao, Jianglei, Wang, Jie, Zhong, Kui, Lyu, Yaqing, Wang, Yanling, Lin, Tao, Zhou, Yao, Zhou, Yongfeng, Zhu, Guangtao, Fei, Zhangjun, Klee, Harry, Huang, Sanwen

Issue&Volume: 2024-11-13

Abstract: In tomato, sugar content is highly correlated with consumer preferences, with most consumers preferring sweeter fruit1,2,3,4. However, the sugar content of commercial varieties is generally low, as it is inversely correlated with fruit size, and growers prioritize yield over flavour quality5,6,7. Here we identified two genes, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) calcium-dependent protein kinase 27 (SlCDPK27; also known as SlCPK27) and its paralogue SlCDPK26, that control fruit sugar content. They act as sugar brakes by phosphorylating a sucrose synthase, which promotes degradation of the sucrose synthase. Gene-edited SlCDPK27 and SlCDPK26 knockouts increased glucose and fructose contents by up to 30%, enhancing perceived sweetness without fruit weight or yield penalty. Although there are fewer, lighter seeds in the mutants, they exhibit normal germination. Together, these findings provide insight into the regulatory mechanisms controlling fruit sugar accumulation in tomato and offer opportunities to increase sugar content in large-fruited cultivars without sacrificing size and yield.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08186-2

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08186-2