Tomatoes: from ancient wild to modern table
American scientists agree on the evolution of the entire tomato species, from tiny to hairy and awful-tasting to the large and sweet.
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American scientists agree on the evolution of the entire tomato species, from tiny to hairy and awful-tasting to the large and sweet.
New research is the first to examine entire tomato species, from tiny, hairy, and terrible-tasting to large and sweet
New research from UMass Amherst is the first to examine entire tomato species, from tiny, hairy and terrible-tasting to large and sweet.
Biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have found evidence for evolutionary “syndromes”—sets of traits that occur together—that help to explain how tomatoes first evolved their distinctive blend of color, sweetness, acidity and aroma. The research, represented by a pair of papers recently published in Plants People Planet and The American Journal of Botany, not only shines a light on how fruits evolve in the wild, but will also be valuable to crop-improvement efforts aimed at breeding more nutritious and appealing varieties of fruits.