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Analysis of Growth and Water Relations of Tomato Fruits in Relation to Air Vapor Pressure Deficit and Plant Fruit Load

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Abstract

The influence of air vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and plant fruit load on the expansion and water relations of young tomato fruits grown in a glasshouse were evaluated under summer Mediterranean conditions. The contributions of phloem, xylem and transpiration fluxes to the fruit volume increase were estimated at an hourly scale from the growth curves of intact, heat-girdled and detached fruits, measured using displacement transducers. High VPD conditions reduced the xylem influx and increased the fruit transpiration, but hardly affected the phloem influx. Net water accumulation and growth rate were reduced, and a xylem efflux even occurred during the warmest and driest hours of the day. Changes in xylem flux could be explained by variations in the gradient of water potential between stem and fruit, due to changes in stem water potential. Misting reduced air VPD and alleviated the reduction in fruit volume increase through an increase in xylem influx and a decrease in fruit transpiration. Under low fruit load, the competition for assimilates being likely reduced, the phloem flux to fruits increased, similarly to the xylem and transpiration fluxes, without any changes in the fruit water potential. However, different diurnal dynamics among treatments assume variable contributions of turgor and osmotic pressure in F3 and F6 fruits, and hypothetical short-term variations in the water potential gradient between stem and fruit, preventing xylem efflux in F3 fruits.

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Acknowledgments

This work was conducted in the framework of research programmes sponsored by INRA (AIP-AGRAF) and by the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Region. We acknowledge the helpful technical assistance of Béatrice Brunel, Jean-Claude L’Hôtel, Claudine Orlando, and Pierre Reich. Many thanks to Dr. P. Bussières for his valuable comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unité Plantes et Systèmes de Culture Horticoles, Domaine St-Paul, Site Agroparc, Avignon CEDEX 9, 84914, France

    Soraya Guichard, Christian Gary & Nadia Bertin

  2. Dipartimento di OrtoFloroArboricoltura e Tecnologie Agroalimentari, Catania University, Via Valdisavoia 5, Catania, I-95123, Italy

    Cherubino Leonardi

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  1. Soraya Guichard
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  2. Christian Gary
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  3. Cherubino Leonardi
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  4. Nadia Bertin
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Correspondence to Nadia Bertin.

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Guichard, S., Gary, C., Leonardi, C. et al. Analysis of Growth and Water Relations of Tomato Fruits in Relation to Air Vapor Pressure Deficit and Plant Fruit Load. J Plant Growth Regul 24, 201–213 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-005-0040-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-005-0040-z

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