CRİSPR/Cas9 silencing of the SLPHD_MS1 gene for development of male sterile tomato plants

Turkey is one of the important countries in tomato production in the world due to its favorable climatic conditions. According to 2020 data, while China ranks first in the world tomato production ranking, Turkey ranks third after India, and this data shows that our country is an important producer. However, tomatoes are in the first place among vegetables in terms of production, consumption and economic value in our country. In addition to being an important plant for our country, tomato, which is a model plant, is a suitable organism to understand plant gene function and regulation and to develop plants with beneficial agricultural properties. Hybrid varieties are extensively used in tomato farming both in the world and in our country. Hybrid varieties; Although it has been improved in terms of factors such as yield, quality, durability and adaptability, F1 hybrid seed is also of commercial importance because it is disposable. CRISPR/Cas technology has revolutionized genome editing studies in different organisms, including plants. CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing, which has been widely used in recent years, is one of the most suitable and versatile tools for sequence-specific gene manipulation. The SlPHD_MS1 gene, which was characterized for the first time in Arabidopsis thaliana, is one of the genes responsible for pollen formation and tapetum development. In this study, the CRISPR/Cas9 system targeting the PhD_type MS1 gene was transferred to tomato cotyledons by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Male sterile tomato plants and lines were obtained by inhibiting pollen formation as a result of silencing the target gene. When the viability of the pollen in these lines was examined, it was determined that the pollen viability of the lines whose genome was edited was extremely reduced compared to the tomato without gene transfer. When the seed formation in the fruits was examined, no seed formation was observed in any line.