This doesn't yet appear on the OSSI website but I pledged it last year along with Gondwana Lightning, Gondwana Thunder, and Gondwana Rose which were all from the same cross [Curiosity F1 = Adelaide Festival F5 (dwarf) X Indigo Rose (non dwarf)] and Gondwana Moon from another cross using Indigo Rose as the pollen donor.
Gondwana Lava appears to have anthocyanins forming in the flesh more than the other Gondwanas but I'd like to have someone confirm that it is indeed anthocyanin expression that I am seeing. I seem to recall reading some time ago that Jim Myers was working towards anthocyanins inside the tomato so that it was more than skin deep so to speak.
In this sliced fruit pic the side of the fruit exposed to the sun has more purple tinge than the flesh on the shaded side
I think you are right it is a little deeper than skin. Still surface associated. Not sure if it means anything for sure.
I quized Jim about this possibility some time ago. It's possible that with just the right promoter we could see the anthocyanin all the way through as in tomatillos without the GMO. Though is it likely?
Thanks William. After googling to find out more about progress with Jim's research I noted more releases - Midnight Roma, Indigo Cherry Drops, Indigo Pear Drops.
I contacted Jim to get his opinion about anthocyanins in Gondwana Lava and he said it is certainly possible, and that there might be enough light penetration several cell layers into the pericarp to trigger the production of anthocyanin, perhaps also related to thinner epidermis. The search continues for a gene that isn't light dependent.
Quote from: Patrina Nuske-Small on 2021-05-26, 08:29:37 PM
Thanks William. After googling to find out more about progress with Jim's research I noted more releases - Midnight Roma, Indigo Cherry Drops, Indigo Pear Drops.
I contacted Jim to get his opinion about anthocyanins in Gondwana Lava and he said it is certainly possible, and that there might be enough light penetration several cell layers into the pericarp to trigger the production of anthocyanin, perhaps also related to thinner epidermis. The search continues for a gene that isn't light dependent.
High Antho peppers also seem to depend on light exposure. Hopefully it is possible to find a gene that doesn't require any exposure...
A snippet from Wikipedia: The conventionally-bred varieties are similar to the "blue" tomatoes that have also been developed at the John Innes Centre in the UK using gene splicing techniques, incorporating genes from snapdragons to increase the anthocyanin levels. While both the conventionally-bred and the engineered varieties exhibit altered expression of the same transcription factor of the MYB gene class which controls the anthocyanin biosynthesis,
the engineered variety additionally produces the pigments in the flesh of the fruit rather than just the skin. This results in almost 100-fold higher concentration of anthocyanins in the engineered fruits compared to the conventional varieties. The inventors of the GM blue tomato, Jonathan D. G. Jones and Cathie Martin of the John Innes Centre, founded a company called Norfolk Plant Sciences to commercialize the blue tomato. They partnered with a greenhouse farm in Canada to grow blue tomatoes from which to create new commercial products.
I bolded the line of interest. The snapdragon antho trait is probably patented though.
Solanum nigrum doesn't seem to require light for the anthocyanin factors. Trying to think of edible solanum species with anthocyanin...
Jaltomata repandidentata and a few other Jaltomata species appear to have some sorts of Anthocyanin.
Both of these would probably need embryo rescue - doubt they would take even then.
Thanks for this Patrina,
I seem to have missed this thread. I am planning on doing a mini dwarf tomato variety trial here, so having you here on the forum is great!
I think this may be the perfect time to have the OSSI forum members start to create a "Dwarf Tomato Project 2.0", so to speak. I think it only makes sense that we pick up the mantel and keep the project going from here on forward.
We even have many members here from Australia and New Zealand, so perhaps there are enough in your area that you won't need to keep working on these alone!
p.s. you've probably already seen this photo from years ago from PaddyMc
"FY 1-1" by PaddyMc
Lunar Eclipse - Lithium Sunset x Indigo Rose
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/641/21820692358_189563196c_c.jpg)
As for finding naturally blue tomatoes in the inner layers it may just depend on lots of breeding and hoping these genes in tomatoes are like the ones in corn. Namely that they are jumping genes and are transposons. If they are it may just be a matter of time before these colors jump to other areas of the fruit. Or it may require novel crosses where a wild phenotype may have a gene that expresses anthocyanin on the inside. But unless these genes are hardwired to be on, then they are fairly dependent on sunlight for expression.
But very cool variety! Might be worth adding to my grow list for next year! How does it taste? Do you know an approximate DTM?
I'll want a few more generations to be sure, but I think my "Darkest Night" may have anthocyanins in the flesh. The fruit I took my current seed from was just dark pink with a purple antho skin as far as I can see, but the fruit THAT came from (the original) was basically black through and through (in fact, the flesh was so dark I didn't even realize it HAD the purple skin trait until the next generation, since I literally couldn't see it!) Also, the plant is RIDICULOUSLY high in anthocyanins (the stems aren't just purple blushed, they're purple, PERIOD. Much more and I'm not sure the chlorophyll would be able to get enough light to photosynthesize.)
Quote from: Andrew Barney link=msg=12608 date=url="tel:1681697814"]1681697814[/url]
But very cool variety! Might be worth adding to my grow list for next year! How does it taste? Do you know an approximate DTM?
Hi Andrew
Can't believe it's 2 years since I posted about Gondwana Lava! My Gondwana Series are now on the OSSI site and I'm planning to create some additions to this series after a decade of insisting I won't do more crosses, so I guess breeding really is too addictive to resist 😏
For my environment the Gondwanas are late and they hang on the vine for ages at full grown size. The plants seem a bit more compact than most dwarfs even though they keep flowering into autumn and are only around a metre tall. I've gone back to some F5s and F6s of some speckled Gondwanas that I wasn't sure if the speckles were disease related, and they're happily just speckles, a light dusting of gold dots! I'll grow them for another season to finalise.
I'll be interested in any crosses you do, hopefully checking back to the forum every now and then 😁
Patrina
EB9763C0-8B19-4BA1-8300-A828CAE9C274.jpeg