New population of backcross inbred lines as a resource for heat stress tolerance in tomato.

The occurring temperature increase in crop production areas worldwide is generating conditions of heat stress that negatively affect crop productivity. Tomato (), a major vegetable crop, is highly susceptible to elevated temperatures. Under such conditions, fruit set is dramatically reduced, leading to significant yield losses.

The Tomato Mutant Shows Decreased Sensitivity to Heat Stress Accompanied by Transcriptional Alterations.

Heat stress is a major environmental factor limiting crop productivity, thus presenting a food security challenge. Various approaches are taken in an effort to develop crop species with enhanced tolerance to heat stress conditions. Since epigenetic mechanisms were shown to play a regulatory role in mediating plants' responses to their environment, we investigated the role of DNA methylation in response to heat stress in tomato (), an important vegetable crop.

Contrasting processing tomato cultivars unlink yield and pollen viability under heat stress.

Climate change is causing temperature increment in crop production areas worldwide, generating conditions of heat stress that negatively affect crop productivity. Tomato (), a major vegetable crop, is highly susceptible to conditions of heat stress. When tomato plants are exposed to ambient day/night temperatures that exceed 32 °C/20 °C, respectively, during the reproductive phase, fruit set and fruit weight are reduced, leading to a significant decrease in yield.

Enhanced Reproductive Thermotolerance of the Tomato Mutant Is Associated With Increased Accumulation of Flavonols in Pollen.

Climate change has created an environment where heat stress conditions are becoming more frequent as temperatures continue to raise in crop production areas around the world. This situation leads to decreased crop production due to plant sensitivity to heat stress. Reproductive success is critically dependent on plants' ability to produce functional pollen grains, which are the most thermo-sensitive tissue.

Cucumber ovaries inhibited by dominant fruit express a dynamic developmental program, distinct from either senescence-determined or fruit-setting ovaries.

Cucurbits represent an attractive model to explore the dynamics of fruit set, whose regulation is not fully understood, despite its importance for yield determination. A fertilized ovary must integrate signals from distant plant parts and 'decide' whether to set fruit, or remain inhibited and later senesce. Here, we set out to characterize first-fruit inhibition (FFI), that is, the inhibitory effect of the first fruit on subsequent development of younger ovaries during pollination-induced and parthenocarpic fruit set.