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Researchers reported sweeter gene-edited tomatoes after knocking out two genes, SlCDPK27 and SlCDPK26. In the tested lines, glucose and fructose increased by up to 30%, and the study found no fruit-weight or yield penalty. The results come from specific tomato varieties and growing conditions; they do not establish that the edited tomatoes are on sale or that every variety would respond the same way.
Which two genes were edited?
The genes are SlCDPK27 and SlCDPK26. Zhang and colleagues first identified a chromosome 11 region associated with tomato soluble solids, then investigated SlCDPK27, also called SlCPK27. They found a 12-base-pair insertion in its promoter associated with a high-sugar allele. Using CRISPR–Cas9, the researchers created SlCDPK27 knockout lines in Money Maker, a fresh-market cultivar, and M82, a processing cultivar. They also studied a double mutant with both SlCDPK27 and SlCDPK26 knocked out. The double knockout is the central two-gene result.
The researchers’ 2024 Nature study describes the broader finding as increased glucose and fructose contents by up to 30%, with greater perceived sweetness and no fruit-weight or yield penalty in the reported lines.
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The double-knockout results showed increases of up to 30% in glucose and fructose. Those figures refer to the individual sugars, not a universal 30% increase in total sugar or perceived sweetness. One specific SlCDPK27 mutant line, MM-CDPK27-CR1, had 16% higher total soluble solids, 35% more glucose, and 30% more fructose than its wild type. These are results for that line, not guaranteed gains for every double-mutant fruit.
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Two sensory panels—one held in Shenzhen in March 2022 and one in Beijing in July 2022, each with roughly 100 participants—found that some tested SlCDPK27 and double-mutant samples were judged sweeter than the wild-type line at statistically significant levels. That supports a sweetness effect in those tests, not a claim that all consumers would prefer the edited fruit.
Why might removing the genes increase sugar?
The study proposes that the two genes act as a brake on sugar accumulation during ripening. Their protein products, SlCDPK27 and SlCDPK26, phosphorylate sucrose synthase SlSUS3, a change that promotes SlSUS3 degradation. In the researchers’ assays, removing the kinases reduced that degradation, offering a mechanism for higher sugar accumulation as the fruit ripens.
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The authors also note that fruit size is largely determined before ripening. That timing may help explain why altering a ripening-related sugar pathway could raise sugar without the fruit-size trade-off often associated with sweeter produce. It is an explanation for these results, not proof that yield effects will be absent in every crop or setting.
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Did the edited tomatoes keep their size and yield?
The experimental lines reported in the study showed no fruit-weight or yield penalty. That is a meaningful result for the tested Money Maker and M82 backgrounds, but the experiments do not establish the same outcome across all tomato cultivars, climates, farming systems, or commercial production conditions. The paper also reported fewer or lighter seeds in mutant fruit; seed germination was normal.
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Are these gene-edited tomatoes available to buy?
The cited study and its coverage describe experimental lines, not a commercial product. They do not establish that seeds or tomatoes from these edited lines are available for purchase, or their regulatory status in any particular market. The findings should therefore be read as a research result rather than a shopping option.
How is sweetness different from a Brix reading?
The paper notes that sugars—mainly fructose and glucose—make up 55% to 65% of tomato total soluble solids, citing prior work. Total soluble solids, often estimated with a Brix refractometer, are a broader measure of dissolved material in juice; they do not separately quantify glucose and fructose or directly measure perceived sweetness. A home Brix reading cannot reproduce the laboratory sugar assays or the study’s sensory panels.
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How does this compare with other tomato gene-editing research?
Other studies have edited different genes and should not be conflated with the SlCDPK27/SlCDPK26 result. A 2021 PeerJ study edited SlINVINH1 and SlVPE5 and reported increased soluble sugars and total soluble solids. A 2026 abstract on SlVIF editing reports delayed ripening and sugar changes; it is a separate experiment, not evidence about the two-gene knockout discussed here: PubMed abstract record.
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