Summary
Theparthenocarpic fruit (pat) allele causes a complex syndrome affecting different aspects of tomato reproductive development. This mutation affects stamen (reduced length and carpelloidy), ovule (arrested integument growth and unviability), and ovary (autonomous growth, i.e., parthenocarpy) development;pat mutant plants therefore have reduced male and female fertility. We studied the phenotypic expression patterns of thepat gene after treatments with gibberellic acid (GA3) and under different growth seasons (late spring and autumn) and genetic backgrounds (backcross [BC] population after interspecific cross). GA3 treatments were only effective in restoring carpelloid anthers to the wild-type phenotype. Compared to late spring, mutant plants grown in autumn had a lower frequency of carpelloid anthers and aberrant ovules and a higher seed set. Inflorescence position also affected thepat expression; upper inflorescences had low frequency of short anthers and aberrant ovules and an increased tendency to set seeds,pat expressivity was more variable in BC1 plants segregating after interspecific cross withLycopersicon pennellii than in the originalL. esculentum line. Therefore, a role for minor genes that modify the quantitative expression of thepat mutation is postulated and discussed.
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Abbreviations
- ANOVA:
-
analysis of variance
- BC:
-
backcross
- GA:
-
gibberellic acid
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Mazzucato, A., Testa, G., Biancari, T. et al. Effect of gibberellic acid treatments, environmental conditions, and genetic background on the expression of theparthenocarpic fruit mutation in tomato. Protoplasma 208, 18–25 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279071
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279071