Expression analysis of LCY1 gene in Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) in various organs and developmental stages using microarray data sets

LCY1 (Gene ID: 544104) encodes lycopene β-cyclase, chloroplastic in Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) which is involved in the β-carotene and β -zeacarotene biosynthesis pathways. Although previous studies proposed the principal role of LCY1 in controlling the lycopene transformation, the expression patterns of LCY1 is still lacking. In the current study, in-silico expression profile of LCY1 gene in tomato was analyzed at developmental levels and anatomical parts using the anatomy tool, and the developmental tool via retrieving the expression values from affymetrix array database of Genevestigator response viewer (https://www.genevestigator.com/gv/). Based on the Genevestigator analysis of the anatomical parts of the samples, the highest expression of the gene was found in seedling followed by shoot, inflorescence, roots, and fruits, respectively. In terms of developmental stages, the highest expression of LCY1 was noticed in the flowering stage, main shoot growth stage and fruit formation followed by a moderate expression during an inflorescence visible stage, fruit ripening complete stage, ripening stage respectively. This study provides a bioinformatics background for the expression pattern of the LCY1 in tomato that may be contributing to create improved varieties.