Impacts of iaa9-3 and iaa9-5 mutations on the seed quality of tomatoes

Abstract

ABSTRACT Heat stress has become a serious problem in tomato production. The parthenocarpic tomato mutants, iaa9–3 and iaa9–5, have been isolated from a mutant population of the Micro-Tom cultivar. According to our previous study, those two mutants are adaptable and capable of producing fruits under heat-stress conditions. On the other hand, from the perspective of commercialisation, seed quality is another important trait. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the iaa9–3 and iaa9–5 mutations on the seed quality by comparing them to its wild type (WT-MT). Several parameters related to seed quality such as seed number, seed viability, vigour index, emergence speed index, and maximum growth potential were analysed. The results showed that iaa9–3 mutation negatively affected seed quality, including reduced seed number, seed viability, vigour index, emergence speed index, and maximum growth potential. Interestingly, iaa9–5 mutation could reduce seed quality while the reduction was not significantly different compared to the WT-MT, suggesting that iaa9–5 was suitable for producing high-quality seeds compared to iaa9–3.