Agronomic potential of BC1F2 populations of Santa Cruz dwarf tomato plants

Abstract

The use of dwarf lines to obtain mini-tomato hybrid plants has led to agronomic and economic advantages. However, the benefits provided by dwarf parents in tomato hybrids of the Santa Cruz type remain unexplored. The aims of this study were to determine the agronomic enhancement in BC1F2 dwarf populations bearing characteristic fruit of the Santa Cruz type after the first backcross and to select populations with high agronomic potential and fruit quality. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse using a randomized block design with 15 treatments and 4 replicates. Evaluated genetic materials included 11 BC1F2 dwarf tomato populations, both parents (recurrent and donor), and the cultivars (Santa Cruz Kada and Santa Clara). Traits evaluated included: mean weight, soluble solid concentration, number of locules, shape, pulp thickness, fruit longitudinal and transversal diameters, internode length, and plant height. Univariate, multivariate, correlation, and selection index analyses showed that mean fruit weight, transverse diameter, and pulp thickness increased significantly in dwarf populations after a single backcross, most of them exhibiting a fruit shape similar to that of the Santa Cruz type. The dwarf BC1F2 populations UFU-Sci#11 and UFU-Sci#12 showed high potential for obtaining lines and, subsequently, Santa Cruz type hybrids.

Introgression of the Self-Pruning Gene into Dwarf Tomatoes to Obtain Salad-Type Determinate Growth Lines

“…The use of artificial intelligence and SOMs has emerged as an alternative for assessing genetic dissimilarity within breeding programs [ 71 ]. Work has been carried out using SOMs to study dissimilarity using indeterminate dwarf plants [ 40 , 41 , 42 ], demonstrating the applicability of the technique in tomato genetic improvement.…”

“…There are research reports that demonstrate the potential of using dwarf plants but with indeterminate growth habits [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ] limiting obtaining determinate hybrids. However, to date, there are no studies on obtaining and selecting dwarf plants with a determinate growth habit of the Salad-type.…”

Productive and physiological characteristics of tomato plants produced on different rootstocks

“…Incompatible morpho‐physiological characteristics (Zeist et al, 2018) and the difficulty in obtaining rootstocks tolerant to the main edaphoclimatic problems hinder the adoption of this technique for tomato plants (Doñas‐Uclés et al, 2014). Among commercial tomato plants, the ‘Santa Clara’ cultivar produces fruits belonging to the table segment of the Santa Cruz group, being the most produced and consumed cultivar and also a reference for inferences about the architecture of plants grown in the field (Gomes et al, 2023). The objective was to evaluate the graft union and survival, the growth characteristics, fruit biometrics, yield and physiological characteristics of the tomato plant ‘Santa Clara’ on five rootstocks.…”