The temporal regulation inter-leaves from domesticated-tomato contrasts with timelessness of its wild ancestors

Abstract

Cells, tissues, and organs are characterized by harbouring complex systems allowing communication between one another. Plant domestication was demonstrated to have structured the circadian rhythms, while also synchronising flowering and metabolism. Here, we demonstrate that the domesticated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) manifests more synchronized rhythmicity across the whole plant. Consequently, the leaf development program is more coordinated in this species than in its wild relatives, wherein S. lycopersicum young leaves develop slowly in comparison to mature leaves. Young leaves from wild tomatoes display higher photosynthesis than mature leaves, while large metabolite accumulations occur across plant segments. Consequently, the diel metabolite levels are rather similar between young and mature leaves in the wild tomato S. pennellii, whereas the expression patterns for circadian clock genes are widely contrasting between both leaves. We further demonstrated that additions of genes related to domestication into the wild tomato S. pimpinellifolium appear to synchronize the development of young and mature leaves to be rather similar to that observed for S. lycopersicum. Collectively, the strengthening of inter-organs relationships on domesticated tomato indicates a synchronized biology, which is most likely fundamental to explaining its elevated yield.