Fig. 7. Trait variation of the locular tissue cells between SlMBP3-KO and wild type fruits.

Paraffin cross-sections of SlMBP3-KO and wild type fruit at early fruit development stages (3, 6, and 9 days post-anthesis (DPA)). The orange rectangles on the whole fruit cross-sections on the right are magnified on the left to zoom in on the regions of interest (ROIs) of locular tissue cells used for quantification. Orange arrows indicate the sites of initiation of locular gel formation; * indicate individual over-expanded or disintegrated cells; Scale bar: 100 µm on the left images and 500 mm on the right images; pe pericarp, s seed. Six independent experiments were performed, giving similar results.