Evaluation of Tomato Landraces for Tolerance to Drought Stress Using Morphological and Physiological Traits

Drought is among the stress factors that, on a global scale, have direct negative effects on plant growth, yield, and quality. Great efforts are directed towards water shortage adaptation. Exploring the genetic diversity of landraces often tolerant to locally occurring stress can represent a valuabl...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Stanislava Grozeva, Elena Topalova, Daniela Ganeva, Ivanka Tringovska
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:International Journal of Plant Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2037-0164/15/4/96
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850086317375881216
author Stanislava Grozeva
Elena Topalova
Daniela Ganeva
Ivanka Tringovska
author_facet Stanislava Grozeva
Elena Topalova
Daniela Ganeva
Ivanka Tringovska
author_sort Stanislava Grozeva
collection DOAJ
description Drought is among the stress factors that, on a global scale, have direct negative effects on plant growth, yield, and quality. Great efforts are directed towards water shortage adaptation. Exploring the genetic diversity of landraces often tolerant to locally occurring stress can represent a valuable source for the development of cultivars with yield stability and improved quality under stress conditions. This study aimed to identify drought-tolerant tomato landraces based on an integrated approach involving morphological traits and physiological parameters. To investigate the effects of water deficit, five landraces and two controls were tested under optimum and 50% reduced irrigation. Yield and yield-related traits, color, firmness, and chlorophyll fluorescence measurements were evaluated. The summarized results indicated that the tomato landraces differed in their responses to water deficit. Water deficit decreased the yield by 44% and the average fruit weight by 29%. Physiological parameters were also significantly affected by water scarcity, with a decrease in the ratios Fv/Fm (the maximum quantum yield of PSII) and Fv/Fo (the maximum primary yield of photochemistry) of 8.2% and 35.5%, respectively, at 14 days’ exposure to stress. Landrace 1352, characterized by indeterminate growth habit and large, rounded, and red-colored fruits, showed a significantly lower reduction in yield and physiological parameters under reduced irrigation and could be used in breeding programs to develop new tomato lines combining resistance with quality.
format Article
id doaj-art-2380b5f558cb40d8a09e07296a0814b3
institution DOAJ
issn 2037-0164
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series International Journal of Plant Biology
spelling doaj-art-2380b5f558cb40d8a09e07296a0814b32025-08-20T02:43:31ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Plant Biology2037-01642024-12-011541391140410.3390/ijpb15040096Evaluation of Tomato Landraces for Tolerance to Drought Stress Using Morphological and Physiological TraitsStanislava Grozeva0Elena Topalova1Daniela Ganeva2Ivanka Tringovska3Maritsa Vegetable Crops Research Institute, Agricultural Academy, 4003 Plovdiv, BulgariaMaritsa Vegetable Crops Research Institute, Agricultural Academy, 4003 Plovdiv, BulgariaMaritsa Vegetable Crops Research Institute, Agricultural Academy, 4003 Plovdiv, BulgariaMaritsa Vegetable Crops Research Institute, Agricultural Academy, 4003 Plovdiv, BulgariaDrought is among the stress factors that, on a global scale, have direct negative effects on plant growth, yield, and quality. Great efforts are directed towards water shortage adaptation. Exploring the genetic diversity of landraces often tolerant to locally occurring stress can represent a valuable source for the development of cultivars with yield stability and improved quality under stress conditions. This study aimed to identify drought-tolerant tomato landraces based on an integrated approach involving morphological traits and physiological parameters. To investigate the effects of water deficit, five landraces and two controls were tested under optimum and 50% reduced irrigation. Yield and yield-related traits, color, firmness, and chlorophyll fluorescence measurements were evaluated. The summarized results indicated that the tomato landraces differed in their responses to water deficit. Water deficit decreased the yield by 44% and the average fruit weight by 29%. Physiological parameters were also significantly affected by water scarcity, with a decrease in the ratios Fv/Fm (the maximum quantum yield of PSII) and Fv/Fo (the maximum primary yield of photochemistry) of 8.2% and 35.5%, respectively, at 14 days’ exposure to stress. Landrace 1352, characterized by indeterminate growth habit and large, rounded, and red-colored fruits, showed a significantly lower reduction in yield and physiological parameters under reduced irrigation and could be used in breeding programs to develop new tomato lines combining resistance with quality.https://www.mdpi.com/2037-0164/15/4/96<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> L.abiotic stressdroughtphotosynthesisyieldfruit weight
spellingShingle Stanislava Grozeva
Elena Topalova
Daniela Ganeva
Ivanka Tringovska
Evaluation of Tomato Landraces for Tolerance to Drought Stress Using Morphological and Physiological Traits
International Journal of Plant Biology
<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> L.
abiotic stress
drought
photosynthesis
yield
fruit weight
title Evaluation of Tomato Landraces for Tolerance to Drought Stress Using Morphological and Physiological Traits
title_full Evaluation of Tomato Landraces for Tolerance to Drought Stress Using Morphological and Physiological Traits
title_fullStr Evaluation of Tomato Landraces for Tolerance to Drought Stress Using Morphological and Physiological Traits
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of Tomato Landraces for Tolerance to Drought Stress Using Morphological and Physiological Traits
title_short Evaluation of Tomato Landraces for Tolerance to Drought Stress Using Morphological and Physiological Traits
title_sort evaluation of tomato landraces for tolerance to drought stress using morphological and physiological traits
topic <i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> L.
abiotic stress
drought
photosynthesis
yield
fruit weight
url https://www.mdpi.com/2037-0164/15/4/96
work_keys_str_mv AT stanislavagrozeva evaluationoftomatolandracesfortolerancetodroughtstressusingmorphologicalandphysiologicaltraits
AT elenatopalova evaluationoftomatolandracesfortolerancetodroughtstressusingmorphologicalandphysiologicaltraits
AT danielaganeva evaluationoftomatolandracesfortolerancetodroughtstressusingmorphologicalandphysiologicaltraits
AT ivankatringovska evaluationoftomatolandracesfortolerancetodroughtstressusingmorphologicalandphysiologicaltraits