ASCORBIC ACID DEFICIENCY AFFECTS TOMATO FRIT PRODUCTION

ALEGRE, MATÍAS LEONEL; STEELHEART, CHARLOTTE; BALDET, PIERRE; ROTHAN CHRISTOPHE; JUST, DANIEL; BRÈS, CÉCILE; GERGOFF GROZEFF, G.E.; BARTOLI, CARLOS GUILLERMO

CORDOBA

Congreso; XXXII Reunión Argentina XVI Congreso Latinoamericano de FISIOLOGIA VEGETAL; 2018

SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE FISIOLOGIA VEGETAL

Ascorbic acid (AA) plays several functions inplants. Arabidopsis plants with low AA content present reduced size,alterations in photosynthesis, senescence, hormonal synthesis and othermodifications. However, the availability of tomato plants with reduced AAconcentration allows to study the participation of this metabolite in fruitproduction. Two MicroTom deficient lines in GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase, the first enzyme exclusively dedicated to AAsynthesis, were utilized. Plants were grown hydroponically inside a greenhouseduring spring summer seasons under an irradiance of 700µmol photons m-2s-1 at midday and a temperature of 25± 2 ºC. Root, leaf and tomatomutant tissues present reduced AA content. The initiation of anthesis and fruitripening was delayed in mutants. However, plants with reduced AA show similarnumber of flowers compared with the wild genotype but decreased fruit setting,and consequently, lower number and biomass of fruits. The analysis of fruit qualityshows that mutant fruits present higher firmness without differences in otherparameters. These results suggest that AA plays a critical role in theregulation of tomato fruit growth.