important biological roles in tomato, such as the regulation of inflorescence and fruit ripening13. TDR4 (FUL1)and SLMBP7 (FUL2) both of which have high sequence similarity to Arabidopsis FRUITFULL have been demonstrated to act in fruit ripening via forming MADSbox
transcription factor complexes with RIN14,15. The expression of FUL1 is up-regulated during ripening15,16. TM6 transcripts mainly accumulate in the carpel primordial and young fruits in tomato and have been considered to be involved in fruit ripening17,18. RNAi suppression
of TAG1 in tomato leads to misshapen fruits and homeotic conversion of stamens into petaloid organs18. The antisense suppression of TAGL1 results in ripening inhibition and pericarp thickness reduction19. Interestingly, all of those MADS-box proteins play as positive regulators of ripening.