ARF — Solanum lycopersicum

Summary

SlARF (SOLYC12G099080.3) encodes a small GTPase of the ARF/SAR family, a P-loop NTPase. In tomato, SlARF is associated with diverse processes including leaflet and sepal formation, placentation, root system development, vesicle-mediated transport, Golgi organization, and regulation of auxin and carotenoid metabolism. It localizes to Golgi-associated vesicles, COPII-coated vesicles, the ER membrane, and early endosomes. The gene has been linked to agronomically important traits such as fruit firmness and size, biomass yield, starch and sugar content, water use efficiency, chlorophyll content, leaf angle and shape, stem elongation, days to flowering, root length and mass density, and responses to light, ethylene, low temperature, and viral disease. Related genes in other species connect it to vesicular transport, phototropism, chloroplast movement, and stomatal opening.