Ascorbic acid deficiency affects tomato fruit production

BALDET, PIERRE; BRES, CECILE; ALEGRE, MATÍAS LEONEL; ROTHAN, CHRISTOPHE; GERGOFF GROZEFF, GUSTAVO; STEELHEART, CHARLOTTE; JUST, DANIELE; BARTOLI CARLOS GUILLERMO

Cordoba

Congreso; XXXII Reunión Argentina XVI Congreso Latinoamericano de Fisiología Vegetal; 2018

Sociedad Argentina de Fisiología Vegetal

Ascorbic acid (AA) plays several functions in plants.Arabidopsis plants with low AA content present reducedsize, alterations in photosynthesis, senescence, hormonalsynthesis and other modifications. However, theavailability of tomato plants with reduced AA concentrationallows studying the participation of this metabolitein fruit production. Two Micro-Tom deficient linesin GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase, the first enzyme exclusivelydedicated to AA synthesis, were utilized.Plants were grown hydroponically in a greenhouse duringspring and summer seasons under an irradianceof 700 μmol photons m-2 s-1 at midday and temperaturesaverage of 25 ± 2 and 20 ± 3 ºC during the dayand night, respectively. Root, leaf and tomato mutanttissues have reduced AA content. The initiation of anthesisand fruit ripening are delayed in mutants. However,plants with reduced AA show similar number offlowers compared with the wild genotype but decreasedfruit setting, and consequently, lower number and biomassof fruits. The analysis of quality shows that mutantfruits present higher firmness without differencesin other parameters. These results suggest that AAplays a critical role in the regulation of tomato fruitgrowth and production.