Impact of moderate water deficit at the fruit development stage of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.): effects on plant growth, physiology, fruit yield and quality and expression of carotenoid biosynthesis genes

• Published in: Acta physiologiae plantarum 2023-05, Vol.45 (5), Article 65
• Main Authors: Rocha Júnior, Dilson S., Barbosa, Ana Cláudia O., Batista, Ingrid A., Camillo, Luciana R., Lopes, Natasha S., Costa, Marcio G. C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abscisic acid; Agriculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biosynthesis; Carotene; Carotenoids; Climate change; Crop yield; Developmental stages; Dioxygenase; Fruits; Gas exchange; Gene expression; Genes; Irrigation efficiency; Leaves; Life Sciences; Metabolites; Original Article; Physiology; Phytoene synthase; Plant Anatomy/Development; Plant Biochemistry; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant growth; Plant Pathology; Plant Physiology; Plants; Principal components analysis; Tomatoes; Water availability; Water deficit; Water potential; Water use; Water use efficiency; β-Carotene
• ISSN: 0137-5881; 1861-1664
• DOI: 10.1007/s11738-023-03549-0

Climate change has an increasingly negative impact on the availability of water for agriculture. Therefore, enhancing water use efficiency under poor irrigation conditions has become a major objective. Here, we investigate the effects of moderate water deficit on tomato plant growth, physiology, fruit yield and quality and expression of carotenoid biosynthesis genes. The treatments control (irrigated) and water deficit were applied from the fruit fixation stage forward and the observations were recorded when the fruits were mature. The results revealed adaptive responses to moderate water deficit, in which plants showed a reduction in leaf water potential, leaf gas exchange and growth variables but an increase in intrinsic and instantaneous water use efficiencies. These adaptive responses were also observed in the activities of antioxidant enzymes in leaves and fruits, which did not show significant differences between treatments. Analysis of abscisic acid (ABA)-regulated carotenoid biosynthesis genes in fruits showed that most of them were either negatively or negligibly regulated by water deficit, except for the carotene isomerases, and their responses were altered by changes in carotenoid metabolites. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase 5 ( LeNCED ), phytoene synthase ( PSY ) and beta-carotene hydroxylase 1 ( CRTR-B1 ) and 2 ( CRTR-B2 ) were the genes that most contributed to the variations observed in the expression patterns between treatments. Overall, these findings contribute to a further understanding of tomato plant and fruit responses to moderate water deficit.