Abstract
The aerial epidermis of plants plays a major role in environmental interactions, yet the development of the cellular components of the aerial epidermis-trichomes, stomata, and pavement cells-is still not fully understood. We have performed a detailed screen of the leaf epidermis in two generations of the well-established Solanum lycopersicum cv M82 × Solanum pennellii ac. LA716 introgression line (IL) population using a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Quantification of trichome and stomatal densities in the ILs revealed four genomic regions with a consistently low trichome density. This study also found ILs with abnormal proportions of different trichome types and aberrant trichome morphologies. This work has led to the identification of new, unexplored genomic regions with roles in trichome formation in tomato. This study investigated one interval in IL2-6 in more detail and identified a new function for the transcription factor SlMixta-like in determining trichome patterning in leaves. This illustrates how these SEM images, publicly available to the research community, provide an important dataset for further studies on epidermal development in tomato and other species of the Solanaceae family.
Highlights
The epidermis is the external cell layer of plant organs and, in aerial tissues, consists of three types of specialized cells: trichomes, stomata, and pavement cells
We found that trichome density on the adaxial surface of the first true leaves was threefold higher in S. pennellii ac
LA716 and S. lycopersicum cv M82 (Figures 1A and 2A) we identified four introgression line (IL) that showed consistent trichome phenotypes over two generations, suggesting stable genetic components regulating trichome density in these ILs
Summary
The epidermis is the external cell layer of plant organs and, in aerial tissues, consists of three types of specialized cells: trichomes, stomata, and pavement cells. Commonly referred to as “hairs,” are outgrowths that can have different sizes and shapes, and their morphology has been used commonly for taxonomic purposes (Payne, 1978). In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and related species, trichomes are multicellular and have been classified into seven different types according to size, morphology, and their metabolic profiles when they bear glandular heads (Luckwill, 1943; Simmons and Gurr, 2005). In contrast with trichomes, have conserved morphology and function in plants (Chater et al, 2017). Pavement cells are relatively unspecialized epidermal cells that ensure an adequate patterning
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