In India, tomato is second most consumed vegetables across the spectrum of the society.

The main research area at RTGR is biofortification of tomato to boost the levels of essential nutrients such as carotenoids and folate. To achieve this end we are involved in high throughput characterization of the metabolites found in tomato fruit.

The strategy used by the group is to use functional genomic information of tomato to alter the metabolome of tomato. Currently linkage between transcriptome and metabolome via proteome is being examined in order to manipulate and direct flux of desired metabolites such as folate and carotenoids in tomato fruits. The manipulation of genes encoding above pathways is being carried out by using reverse genetics techniques such as TILLING, NGS and genome editing.

Our aim is use system biology approach to identify the regulatory nodes that can be genetically manipulated to improve the nutrition content of tomato. The RTGR has well equipped laboratories, greenhouses and field facility to carry out the research on tomato genomics.

University of Hyderabad established the “Repository of Tomato Genomics Resources” (RTGR) in March 2011 (Item No.EC:151:2011:4). RTGR has moved into its own building in April 2013. Currently it is recognized as DBT Centre of Excellence and Innovation in Biotechnology (CEIB) with “Program Support on Genome Engineering of Tomato”..