Enhanced pollen tube performance at high temperature contributes to thermotolerant fruit and seed production in tomato.

ABSTRACT: Rising temperature extremes during critical reproductive periods threaten the yield of major grain and fruit crops. Flowering plant reproduction depends on the ability of pollen grains to generate a pollen tube, which elongates through the pistil to deliver sperm cells to female gametes for double fertilization. We used tomato as a model fruit crop to determine how high temperature affects the pollen tube growth phase, taking advantage of cultivars noted for fruit production in exceptionally hot growing seasons. We found that exposure to high temperature solely during the pollen tube growth phase limits fruit biomass and seed set more significantly in thermosensitive cultivars than in thermotolerant cultivars. Importantly, we found that pollen tubes from the thermotolerant Tamaulipas culti

SUBMITTER: Ouonkap SVY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11665196 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature