Sequencing a gene construct in transgenic tomato lines
Student Name: Zhejun Zhou. UCD Department: Plant Science. UCD Mentor: Diane Beckles.
The sweetness and size of tomatoes typically have an inverse relationship; the project Zhejun Zhou is working on aims to sequence the transcription factor in transgenic tomatoes that causes them to have a higher yield than normal tomatoes. Transcription factors are proteins that regulate the expression of other genes; once the transcription factor is sequenced, it can be injected into tomato plants to produce transgenic tomatoes that are better tasting than normal ones. The applications of this project are widespread, as farmers and planters can utilize this information to produce bigger and sweeter tomatoes for everyone.
