Características estruturais e fisiológicas em genótipos de tomateiros sob déficit hídrico

Abstract

Plants have developed various adaptation mechanisms to drought conditions through genetic inheritance acquired through complex abiotic and biotic interactions that depended on submission to environmental stresses for structural and molecular change. Current research on the improvement of different crops evaluates issues regarding water deficit. The tomato is a crop of great importance in Brazil. It is one of the most consumed fruits worldwide, with great appreciation for its flavor. Water plays a vital role in determining the yield of tomato plants. Under drought conditions, solutes accumulate within the cell due to osmotic adjustment that helps maintain turgor by decreasing water potential. Many studies have shown different characteristics that confer greater resistance to drought in tomato plants. The factors involved in the drought tolerance of this crop are centered on the root system and its relationship with water, turgor maintenance, cuticle thickness, osmotic adjustment, and antioxidant defense system. Studying and identifying characteristics associated with drought tolerance helps understand the plant adaptation process and supports the work of genetic improvement programs that create new cultivars according to current demands. This investigation aimed to study some of the morphoanatomical parameters, such as root and aerial part development of the tomato, affected by water stress, indicating the tolerance of the Solanum pennellii genotype maintaining its activities under water deficit and the phenotypic plasticities presented by the cultivars 'Santa Clara' and 'Rio Grande', both Solanum lycopersicum, and the hybrid genotype WELL.