Idiosyncratic and dose-dependent epistasis drives variation in tomato fruit size

Science. 2023 Oct 20;382(6668):315-320. doi: 10.1126/science.adi5222. Epub 2023 Oct 19.

Abstract

Epistasis between genes is traditionally studied with mutations that eliminate protein activity, but most natural genetic variation is in cis-regulatory DNA and influences gene expression and function quantitatively. In this study, we used natural and engineered cis-regulatory alleles in a plant stem-cell circuit to systematically evaluate epistatic relationships controlling tomato fruit size. Combining a promoter allelic series with two other loci, we collected over 30,000 phenotypic data points from 46 genotypes to quantify how allele strength transforms epistasis. We revealed a saturating dose-dependent relationship but also allele-specific idiosyncratic interactions, including between alleles driving a step change in fruit size during domestication. Our approach and findings expose an underexplored dimension of epistasis, in which cis-regulatory allelic diversity within gene regulatory networks elicits nonlinear, unpredictable interactions that shape phenotypes.

MeSH terms

  • Alleles
  • Epistasis, Genetic*
  • Fruit* / anatomy & histology
  • Fruit* / genetics
  • Gene Dosage
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Genetic Variation
  • Genotype
  • Phenotype
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Solanum lycopersicum* / anatomy & histology
  • Solanum lycopersicum* / genetics