ABSTRACT
In the last few decades, technological progress in molecular biology and information science has resulted in methods with extended capabilities in the study and analysis of genomes. Many countries are investing more and more in gene expression studies as a way to meet their needs for growth in food. Most economically important traits of crop plants follow a continuous distribution caused by the action and interaction of many genes and various environmental factors. Past techniques for genome analysis have been greatly improved and new methods have emerged, the latest based on micro-array technology. The core part in most of the methods for gene expression studies is the polymerase chain reaction technique. The commercial significance of tomato plants led to efforts of genetic modification and gene transfer from the early days of the molecular genetics revolution. As a result of these efforts, information data for 586the tomato genome are increasing constantly. Tomato microarrays for expression analysis are already useful to identify markers genes implicated in fruit ripening and development in the Solanaceae. Molecular marker analysis of tomato plants allows the identification of genome segments, so-called quantitative trait loci that help to select superior genotypes without uncertainties due to genotype by environment interaction and experimental error.
