Identification and characterisation of the tomato parthenocarpic mutant high fruit set under stress (hfs) exhibiting high productivity under heat and salt stress. (29th January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Meco, Victoriano; Egea, Isabel; Albaladejo, Irene; Campos, Juan F.; Morales, Belen; Ortíz‐Atienza, Ana; Capel, Carmen; Angosto, Trinidad; Bolarín, María C.; Flores, Francisco B.
• Is Part Of: Annals of applied biology. Volume 174:Number 2(2019)
• Page Start: 166
• Page End: 178
• Publication Date: 2019-01-29
• Subjects: abiotic stress -- fruit number -- fruit yield -- precocious ovary growth -- seedless fruit -- Solanum lycopersicum; Crop science -- Periodicals; Plants, Protection of -- Periodicals; Crops -- Ecology -- Periodicals; 630
• DOI: 10.1111/aab.12486
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-4746

Abstract

Abstract : Pollination and therefore fruit set in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) is very sensitive to temperature. Parthenocarpy can be a very useful trait in tomato breeding in sustainable agriculture faced with global warming. Within a collection of Moneymaker tomato mutants a monogenic and recessive mutant with high fruit number was identified in heat stress conditions and named high fruit set under stress ( hfs ). No morphological alterations in vegetative and reproductive organs were observed except the bigger size of ovary. hfs is parthenocarpic, pollination not being required for fruit set, although this trait was not absolute since it produced some under‐seeded fruit. When plants were grown under extreme temperatures (higher than 35°C), hfs exhibits higher fruit yield than wild‐type (WT) due to increased fruit number. Another very interesting characteristic of hfs is its improved fruit quality under heat stress, exhibiting a better sweetness/acidity balance than WT. Interestingly, hfs was also tolerant to the combination of heat and salt stress, and the positive effect on production was due to both components of yield, fruit number and fruit weight. The generation of mostly seedless fruit and the high productivity and fruit quality under extreme temperatures make hfs a very interesting mutant to obtain new breeding high‐yield lines in adverse environmental conditions. Abstract : A new identified monogenic and recessive parthenocarpic tomato mutant ( high fruit set under stress [ hfs ]) that exhibits high fruit productivity in heat (H; >35°C) and salt (S; 100 mM NaCl) stress and their combination (H + S), compared with wild‐type (C: controlled unstressed conditions). hfs shows no morphological alterations in vegetative and reproductive development but mutant fruit presents higher fruit quality (total soluble solids and titratable acidity).