Tomato fruit development progresses through a number of stages, beginning with fertilization of the ovules by pollen and ending at the red ripe stage. Whereas the events during the last stages, from mature, full-sized green fruit onwards (ripening) have been subject of intense investigation, much less is known about the events during the early stages.
This part of the fruit development is characterized by a vast increase in size which is first driven by increased cell division activity, leading to an increase in number of cells and then followed by increased cell expansion leading to an increase in average cell volume. Curiously, DNA replication takes place during both phases, but while in the first phase this is followed by cell division (mitosis), in the second phase replication progresses several times without mitosis, a process called endoreduplication. We are interesting in the molecular regulation of these early processes during fruit development, finally aiming at modifying the texture and cellular composition of the fruit.
Recent poster: