Above-optimal temperatures reduce yield in many crops, including tomato, largely because of the heat-sensitivity of their reproduction process. A full understanding of heat-stress (HS) response and thermotolerance of ...Above-optimal temperatures reduce yield in many crops, including tomato, largely because of the heat-sensitivity of their reproduction process. A full understanding of heat-stress (HS) response and thermotolerance of tomato reproduction is still lacking. Recently, using external application of the plant <span style="font-family:Verdana;">hormone ethylene, it was demonstrated that ethylene plays a role in</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> heat-tolerance of tomato pollen (the male reproductive cells). In order to expand our understanding on involvement of ethylene in tomato pollen thermotolerance, </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">we analyzed the response of wild type and ethylene-related tomato mutant</span> <span style="font-family:Verdana;">plants to HS, at physiological and molecular levels. We report that mild</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> chronic </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">HS conditions highly reduce the number of viable and germinating pollen </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">grains as well as the production of seeded fruits in wild type tomato plants, while no significant reduction was detected/observed in pollen quality, number of seeded fruits and seeds per fruit in plants of the ethylene over-producer mutant epinastic. Our findings suggest that ethylene is involved in thermotolerance of tomato reproduction, pointing to an effect on pollen viability and </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">germination potential, highlighting candidate genes involved in pollen re</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">sponse to HS (like </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">SlHSP17</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">, </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">SlHSP101</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">, </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">SlMBF1</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">) and suggesting directions for further studies.</span>展开更多
文摘Above-optimal temperatures reduce yield in many crops, including tomato, largely because of the heat-sensitivity of their reproduction process. A full understanding of heat-stress (HS) response and thermotolerance of tomato reproduction is still lacking. Recently, using external application of the plant <span style="font-family:Verdana;">hormone ethylene, it was demonstrated that ethylene plays a role in</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> heat-tolerance of tomato pollen (the male reproductive cells). In order to expand our understanding on involvement of ethylene in tomato pollen thermotolerance, </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">we analyzed the response of wild type and ethylene-related tomato mutant</span> <span style="font-family:Verdana;">plants to HS, at physiological and molecular levels. We report that mild</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> chronic </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">HS conditions highly reduce the number of viable and germinating pollen </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">grains as well as the production of seeded fruits in wild type tomato plants, while no significant reduction was detected/observed in pollen quality, number of seeded fruits and seeds per fruit in plants of the ethylene over-producer mutant epinastic. Our findings suggest that ethylene is involved in thermotolerance of tomato reproduction, pointing to an effect on pollen viability and </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">germination potential, highlighting candidate genes involved in pollen re</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">sponse to HS (like </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">SlHSP17</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">, </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">SlHSP101</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">, </span><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">SlMBF1</span></i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">) and suggesting directions for further studies.</span>
