A QTL Controlling Stem Morphology and Vascular Development in Lycopersicon esculentum x Lycopersicon hirsutum (Solanaceae) Crosses is Located on Chromosome 2

The vascular tissue of higher plants is organized into a continuous and unified system that undergoes a transition between two highly differentiated structures, the root and the shoot. This transition was studied in tomato by investigating the genetic basis of morphological variation between Lycopersicon esculentum and L. hirsutum LA407. Our analysis concentrated on morphology in stem cross sections, and we detected heritable genetic differences in an inbred backcross population having L. esculentum as the recurrent parent and LA407 as the donor parent. Inbred backcross line (IBL) 2353 contained a donor segment from chromosome 2 and retained features of the LA407 stem vascular morphology. Marker-trait analysis of vascular structure in a cross between IBL 2353 and L. esculentum showed significant (0.0001 ≤ P ≤ 0.0375) associations between markers on chromosome 2 and the size of primary vascular bundles, the shape of the vascular system, and the thickness of the secondary vascular tissue. Families with LA407 DNA for the markers on chromosome 2 had larger primary vascular bundles, more developed secondary vascular tissue, and a triangular vascular shape. These results suggest that the distal portion of chromosome 2 in LA407 contains a locus or loci affecting vascular morphology and development.