Systematic Development of Tomato BioResources in Japan

Recently, with the progress of genome sequencing, materials and information for research on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) have been systematically organized. Tomato genomics tools including mutant collections, genome sequence information, full-length cDNA and metabolomic datasets have become available to the research community. In Japan, the National BioResource Project Tomato (NBRP Tomato) was launched in 2007, with aims to collect, propagate, maintain and distribute tomato bioresources to promote functional genomics studies in tomato. To this end, the dwarf variety Micro-Tom was chosen as a core genetic background, due to its many advantages as a model organism. In this project, a total of 12 000 mutagenized lines, consisting of 6000 EMS-mutagenized and 6000 gamma-ray irradiated M2 seeds, were produced, and the M3 offspring seeds derived from 2236 EMS-mutagenized M2 lines and 2700 gamma-ray irradiated M2 lines have been produced. Micro-Tom mutagenized lines in the M3 generation and monogenic Micro-Tom mutants are provided from NBRP tomato. Moreover, tomato cultivated varieties and its wild relatives, both of these are widely used for experimental study, are available. In addition to these bioresources, NBRP Tomato also provides 13 227 clones of full-length cDNA which represent individual transcripts non-redundantly. In this paper, we report the current status of NBRP Tomato and its future prospects.