Genetic characteristics and QTL analysis of the soluble sugar content in ripe tomato fruits

Abstract

Sugar is an important component affecting fruit quality and taste and has been studied in many plants. Tomatoes are consumed in very large amounts worldwide, but to date, few reports on the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for the sugar content in tomato fruits have been published. In this study, we analyzed the genetic model of the soluble sugar content in ripe tomato fruits and the reasons for the differences. We determined that the inheritance of the soluble sugar content in tomato fruits followed a negative dominance pattern, with a predominantly polygenic effect. Moreover, we identified two chromosomal regions by bulked-segregant analysis (BSA) sequencing analysis and initially screened 47 genes that may affect the soluble sugar content of tomato fruits.