Multi-omics Analyses of Non-GM Tomato Scion Engrafted on GM Rootstocks

Takumi Ogawa; Kanae Kato; Harue Asuka; Yumi Sugioka; Tomofumi Mochizuki; Takumi Nishiuchi; Taira Miyahara; Hiroaki Kodama; Daisaku Ohta

doi:10.14252/foodsafetyfscj.D-23-00005

Multi-omics Analyses of Non-GM Tomato Scion Engrafted on GM Rootstocks

Food Saf (Tokyo). 2023 Sep 6;11(3):41-53. doi: 10.14252/foodsafetyfscj.D-23-00005. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Takumi Ogawa^{1

2}, Kanae Kato², Harue Asuka², Yumi Sugioka², Tomofumi Mochizuki^{1

2}, Takumi Nishiuchi^{3

4}, Taira Miyahara⁵, Hiroaki Kodama⁵, Daisaku Ohta^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Agriculture, Osaka Metropolitan University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan.
² Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan.
³ Division of Life Science, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, Kakuma, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan.
⁴ Division of Integrated Omics Research, Bioscience Core Facility, Research Center for Experimental Modeling of Human Disease, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-8640, Japan.
⁵ Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522, Japan.

Abstract

Grafting has been widely applied in agricultural production in order to utilize agriculturally valuable traits. The use of genetically modified (GM) plants for grafting with non-GM crops will soon be implemented to generate chimeric plants (transgrafting)*, and the non-GM edible portions thus obtained could fall outside of the current legal regulations. A number of metabolites and macromolecules are reciprocally exchanged between scion and rootstock, affecting the crop properties as food. Accordingly, the potential risks associated with grafting, particularly those related to transgrafting with GM plants, should be carefully evaluated based on scientific evidence. In this study, we prepared a hetero-transgraft line composed of non-GM tomato scion and GM-tobacco rootstock expressing firefly luciferase. We also prepared a homograft line (both rootstock and scion are from non-GM tomato) and a heterograft line (non-GM tobacco rootstock and non-GM tomato scion). The non-GM tomato fruits were harvested from these grafted lines and subjected to comprehensive characterization by multi-omics analysis. Proteomic analysis detected tobacco-derived proteins from both heterograft and hetero-transgraft lines, suggesting protein transfer from the tobacco rootstock to the tomato fruits. No allergenicity information is available for these two tobacco-derived proteins. The transcript levels of the genes encoding two allergenic tomato intrinsic proteins (Sola l 4.0101 and Sola l 4.0201) decreased in the heterograft and hetero-transgraft lines. Several differences were observed in the metabolic profiles, including α-tomatine and nicotine. The accumulation of tobacco-derived nicotine in the tomato fruits of both heterograft and hetero-transgraft lines indicated that the transfer of unfavorable metabolites from rootstock to scion should be assessed as a food safety concern. Further investigations are needed to clarify whether variable environmental conditions and growth periods may influence the qualities of the non-GM edible parts produced by such transgrafted plants.

Keywords: luciferase; new plant breeding technology; omics analysis; tobacco; tomato; transgrafting.