One gene switch makes tobacco leaves bigger or smaller
Crop Improvement
If a single gene can dial leaf size up or down in tobacco, the same trick likely works in related crops like tomatoes and peppers, giving breeders a genetic shortcut to bigger, more productive plants without years of trial-and-error crossing.
Researchers found a gene in tobacco plants, nicknamed NtAN3, that acts like a volume knob for leaf size. When they cranked the gene up, leaves grew noticeably larger; when they turned it down, leaves shrank. Digging into what changes inside the plant, they found the bigger-leaf version revs up sugar and starch processing, suggesting the plant is fueling extra growth with its own carbohydrate metabolism.
Key Findings
Overexpressing NtAN3 significantly increased tobacco leaf area, while silencing it significantly decreased leaf area compared to wild-type plants.
Transcriptome comparisons found 1,697 differentially expressed genes between wild-type and the G27 mutant, and 2,388 between wild-type and the M21 mutant.
Genes in starch, sucrose, and galactose metabolism pathways were more active in larger-leaved mutants, and three specific genes (Nitab4.5_0000564g0140, Nitab4.5_0006318g0030, Nitab4.5_0002093g0100) were flagged as likely leaf-growth regulators.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found a single gene called NtAN3 controls how big tobacco leaves grow: boosting the gene made leaves bigger, while silencing it shrank them, pointing to a genetic lever for improving crop yield.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
The NtAN3 gene plays a key role in increasing tobacco leaf area
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is an important cash crop, and the size of its leaves significantly influences both yield and quality. However, previous research often focused on cultivation measure...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Gene editing removes 97% of celiac-triggering proteins from bread wheat
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus Nicotiana of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. Seventy-nine species of tobacco are known, but the chief commercial crop is N. tabacum. The more potent variant N. rus...