Comparing heat stress effects on male-fertile and male-sterile tomatoes

Abstract

To separate the effects of heat stress on male and female reproductive tissues, male-sterile (MSs) and male-fertile tomatoes (MFs) were placed in growth chambers at 12 h day/12 h night temperatures of 28/22, 30/24 or 32/26°C from flower appearance to seed maturation (daily mean temperatures of 25, 27 or 29°C). Pollen from MFs was applied individually to MS flowers. As MFs were self-pollinated, heat stress was experienced by both male and female tissues. At growth temperatures of 29°C fruit number, fruit weight per plant, and seed number per fruit were only 10%, 6.4% and 16.4%, respectively, compared with those at 25°C. Heat stress also adversely affected fruitset in MSs, especially when experienced by donor pollen. No fruit at all developed on MSs receiving pollen produced at 29°C, even when Ovule development, pollen germination and subsequent embryo development all took place at 25°C. Effects on fruitset in MSs were reduced if donor pollen had not experienced heat stress. MSs grown at 29°C but receiving pollen developing at 25°C produced 73% as much fruit (both on number and weight basis), had 40% as high fruitset and produced 87% of the seed per fruit as MSs grown at 25°C. This use of male-sterile and male-fertile lines of tomato provides new evidence that impairment of pollen and anther development by elevated temperature will be an important contributing factor to decreased fruit set in tomato, and possibly other crops, with global warming.