The study introduced full-length SOC1 genes from maize and soybean, and a partial SOC1 gene from blueberry, into tomato plants under constitutive promoters. While VcSOC1K and ZmSOC1 accelerated flowering, all three transgenes increased fruit number per plant mainly by promoting branching, and transcriptomic profiling revealed alterations in flowering, growth, and stress‑response pathways.

The authors present a straightforward protocol that uses brief exposure to the topoisomerase II inhibitor etoposide to generate heritable structural variants in plants, demonstrated in Arabidopsis thaliana with high frequency. Long-read sequencing and genetic analyses revealed deletions and inversions responsible for semi‑dominant and recessive phenotypes, offering a low‑resource alternative to irradiation for inducing large‑effect genomic changes.