Transformation Studies in Solanaceous Plants

The family Solanaceae is unique in representing crops like potato, tomato, eggplant, and pepper that are of importance to both arable and horticultural sectors. Its economic importance, and recent progress in molecular biology, has propelled the Solanaceae to the forefront of scientific importance in the fields of comparative genomics and plastome biology research. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cv. MicroTom is a miniature-dwarf-determinate. It differs from standard tomato cultivars by only two recessive genes which provide the dwarf phenotype to MicroTom. Like the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, short life cycle, well-characterized genetics, and small DNA content per haploid genome, have recently led to its adoption as model research material for the Solanaceae. Efficient methods for in vitro propagation, regeneration, and transformation of plants are of pivotal importance to both basic and applied research.