Intellectual Property Office

Non-Confidential Disclosures

“High Lycopene Tomatoes”

PSU Invention Disclosure Number 3404
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Field of the Invention:

Tomatoes, Vegetables, Nutritional Foods, Food Processing of Catsup, Sauces, Salsas, Juices and Soups

Inventors:

Majid Foolad

Invention Status:

The tomato breeding lines and hybrids are available for commercial release and/or production of hybrid cultivars

Background:

Tomatoes are widely grown around the world and are the second most consumed vegetable globally. In the U.S., they are the third most economically important vegetable with a total farm value of over two billion dollars. Fruit color has a significant effect on the sale of fresh and processed tomato products. Lycopene is the red pigment and a major carotenoid in tomatoes. Lycopene's antioxidant capacity is roughly twice that of ß-carotene. Numerous epidermiological and intervention studies have demonstrated that dietary intake of LYC-rich foods result in decreased incidence of certain cancers, including the prostate, lung, mouth, and colon cancer, coronary heart diseases, cataracts and possibly macular degeneration. Although the tomato is the richest source of lycopene among all fruits and vegetables, its concentration in the fruit of commercial cultivars is rather low, on average ranging from 30 to 60 µg lycopene/g fresh tomato tissue. Previously, attempts have been made to genetically develop tomatoes with high fruit lycopene content, some with limited success. For example, while introgression of the "high pigment" genes hp1 and hp2 result in an increase in fruit lycopene content, their adverse pleiotropic effects, including slow germination and seedling growth, high sensitivity to various pathogens and low yield, have prohibited widespread commercial use of these genes. In addition, as both of these genes are recessive in nature, they are undesirable for production of hybrid cultivars with high fruit lycopene content. Another example is the crimson gene (ogc, cr), which increases fruit lycopene only by about 25%, and at the expense of ß-carotene. A disadvantage of this gene is that it is tightly linked to the self-pruning gene (sp) on chromosome 6, and thus high lycopene plants (homozygous for ogc) are all determinate in nature. At Penn State, Dr. Foolad has developed tomatoes which have lycopene content much greater than varieties with crimson gene and in both determinate and indeterminate growth habit.

Invention description:

Using different traditional breeding techniques, Dr. Majid Foolad has developed tomato breeding lines having fruit lycopene content from 100 - 200 µg lycopene/g fresh fruit tissue. The high fruit lycopene content of these lines do not have any obvious undesirable effects on other plant characteristics. New cherry tomato lines have been developed, which are in F10 generation and have fruit lycopene content up to 200 µg lycopene/g fresh fruit tissue. These lines also have other desirable horticultural characteristics, including high yield, and are available in both determinate and indeterminate growth habits with fruit diameter ranging from 1.5 to 3 cm in different lines. Other high lycopene fresh-market tomatoes such as grape, plum and medium to large round tomatoes, have also been developed using modified backcross breeding techniques. Grape tomatoes of pear-shaped, plum-shaped and elongated (cylindrical) fruit and in both determinate and indeterminate growth habits are available. Plum and round (oblate and globe) tomatoes are available with determinate or semi-determinate growth habit. Inbred lines of processing type tomatoes with high fruit lycopene content and exceptional fruit yield are in the pipeline and will be available within 1-2 years. We also have developed experimental hybrids from crosses between our inbred lines for field trials. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) responsible for the high fruit lycopene content in these materials have been identified and genetically mapped. Molecular markers linked to these QTLs are available.

Contact:

Matthew Smith
Sr. Technology Licensing Officer
Intellectual Property Office
The Pennsylvania State University
113 Technology Center
University Park, PA 16802-7000
Phone: (814) 863-1212
Fax: (814) 865-3591
E-mail: mds126@psu.edu