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A mathematical model to select the tomatoes of tomorrow

A mathematical model to select the tomatoes of tomorrow

To better understand the impact of the environment or genetic variability, and thus facilitate the choice of future varieties, scientists from the Laboratory of Plant-Microbe-Environment Interactions (LIPME - INRAE/CNRS) at the INRAE Occitanie-Toulouse centre have modelled the metabolism of the tomato. These results have been published in the journal Plant Physiology. This publication is the result of a New Frontiers TULIP project and was the subject of a highlight of the INRAE Toulouse Occatanie centre.

This publication is the result of the New Frontiers TULIP project : Metabolic modelling of A Plant Pathogen Interaction (MAPPI)

Simulating a tomato plant

Predicting and understanding the response of plants to environmental disturbances is necessary to make an informed selection of tomorrow's varieties, those that will fare best in the face of global warming. This requires a combination of information from the genome, metabolism, physiology and nutrition of the tomato. To do this, LIPME scientists have used mathematical modelling of complex systems, combined with the acquisition of experimental data. Their mathematical model simulates the metabolism and physiology of a tomato plant under different environmental and genetic conditions.

"Using this technique, we have developed a model of a tomato plant at the growth stage before flowering," explains Caroline Baroukh, an INRAE researcher. This model represents the metabolism of the leaves, stem, roots and xylemic sap (the raw sap) and phloem (the elaborated sap). It predicts changes in more than 6 000 chemical reactions in the metabolism of a tomato plant under different environmental conditions and genetic backgrounds."

Read the full article on INRAE.fr

See also

L. Gerlin, L. Cottret, A. Escourrou, S. Genin, C. Baroukh, A multi-organ metabolic model of tomato predicts plant responses to nutritional and genetic perturbations. Plant Physiol. 188, 1709–1723 (2022) Doi : 10.1093/plphys/kiab548

Modification date: 05 January 2024 | Publication date: 10 May 2023 | By: TULIP Communication / INRAE Toulouse Occitanie Communication