PME — Solanum lycopersicum

Summary

SlPME (SOLYC11G050990.1) on tomato chromosome 11 encodes a protein with a pectinesterase catalytic domain and is annotated with pectinesterase activity and pectinesterase inhibitor activity. The gene is associated with pectin metabolism, methanol anabolism, cellulose anabolism, cell adhesion, fruit abscission, and abscisic acid anabolism. It has been linked to fruit firmness, fruit color, fruit weight and size, lycopene content, sugar content, photosynthetic rate, cytoplasmic male sterility, protein content, and cellulose content. Studies of related genes in other species connect this gene family to traits such as lignin content, stem elongation, root length, and chlorophyll content.