Tomato, which can be eaten as a vegetable or fruit, is one of the most popular and nutritionally important crops around the world. Although most plants of the cherry tomato cultivar ‘Minichal’ have a normal phenotype, some plants have a stunted phenotype with reduced plant height, leaf size, and fruit size, as well as altered leaf and fruit shape. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying these differences, we generated RNA-seq libraries from pooled leaf samples of 10 normal (N) and 10 stunted (S) plants. Using the Illumina sequencing platform, we obtained a total of 115.45 million high-quality clean reads assembled into 35,216 genes and 35,216 transcripts. A total of 661 genes were differentially expressed between N and S plants. Of these, 420 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were up-regulated, and 221 DEGs were down-regulated. The RNA-seq data were validated using quantitative reverse-transcription PCR. Enrichment analysis of DEGs using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) showed that the enriched pathways were involved in steroid biosynthesis, homologous recombination, and mismatch repair. Among these, three genes related to steroid biosynthesis, including 3BETAHSD/D2, DIM and DWF5 were down-regulated in S compared to N. Of these, DIM and DWF5 are known to be involved in brassinosteroid biosynthesis. Our results thus provide a useful insight into dwarfism in cherry tomato, and offer a platform for evaluating related species.

番茄可以作为蔬菜或水果食用，是世界上最受欢迎和最重要的营养作物之一。尽管大多数樱桃番茄品种'Minichal'的植株具有正常的表型，但有些植株具有发育不良的表型，植株高度，叶片大小和果实大小减小，叶片和果实形状也发生变化。为了研究这些差异的分子机制，我们从10株正常（N）和10株发育不良（S）植物的合并叶片样品中生成了RNA-seq库。使用Illumina测序平台，我们获得了总计115.45百万个高质量的纯净读段，这些读段被组装成35,216个基因和35,216个转录本。N和S植物之间共有661个基因差异表达。其中，420个差异表达基因（DEG）被上调，而221个DEG被下调。使用定量逆转录PCR验证了RNA-seq数据。使用京都基因和基因组百科全书（KEGG）对DEG进行的富集分析表明，富集的途径与类固醇的生物合成，同源重组和错配修复有关。在这些基因中，有3个与类固醇生物合成有关的基因，包括3BETAHSD / D2，DIM和DWF5在S中比N下调。其中，已知DIM和DWF5参与油菜素类固醇的生物合成。因此，我们的结果为了解樱桃番茄中的侏儒症提供了有用的见识，并为评估相关物种提供了平台。