Jacob Barnett

Wild Tomato Fruit Diversity

Ripe fruits from the cultivated tomato (top right) and its 13 species of wild relatives (Solanum sect. Lycopersicon). My research explores fruit diversity and its genetic basis across this agriculturally relevant group. Wild tomatoes are native to the coasts, deserts, and mountains of western South America, but are closely related enough to be interbred with the cultivated tomato to produce new crop varieties. Wild species have been (and continue to be!) a source of valuable tomato traits such as disease resistance, drought tolerance, and better flavor.

Jacob Barnett, Organismic & Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program and Biology Department, College of Natural Sciences. PI: Ana Caicedo

Funding: NSF Grant #156436, UMass Natural History Collections Grant, Lotta Crabtree Fellowship

IALS-UMass Core Facilities: Models to Medicine Center (M2M) | Genomics Resource, Mass Spectrometry