PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Nafiseh Geshnizjani
AU  - Saadat Sarikhani Khorami
AU  - Leo A.J. Willems
AU  - Basten L. Snoek
AU  - Henk W.M. Hilhorst
AU  - Wilco Ligterink
TI  - The interaction between genotype and maternal nutritional environments affects tomato seed and seedling quality
AID  - 10.1101/458836
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 458836
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/11/06/458836.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/11/06/458836.full
AB  - Seed and seedling traits are affected by the conditions of the maternal environment, such as light, temperature and nutrient availability. In this study, we have investigated whether different maternally applied nitrate and phosphate concentrations affect the seed and seedling performance of two tomato genotypes: Solanum lycopersicum cv. Money maker and Solanum pimpinellifolium accession CGN14498. We observed large differences for seed and seedling traits between the two genotypes. Additionally, we have shown that for nitrate most of the seed and seedling traits were significantly affected by genotype by environment interactions (G×E). The effect of the maternal environment was clearly visible in the primary metabolites of the dry seeds. For example, we could show that the amount of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in Money maker seeds was affected by the differences in the maternal environments and was positively correlated with seed germination under high temperature. Overall, compared to phosphate, nitrate had a larger effect on seed and seedling performance in tomato. In general, the different responses to the maternal environments of the two tomato genotypes show a major role of genotype by environment interactions in shaping seed and seedling traits.Highlight The presented data specifically provides knowledge towards understanding a multi-level effect of the maternal nutritional environment on seed and seedling characteristics in tomato. We show a clear genotype by environment interactions (G×E) especially for maternal growth on different nitrate concentrations. Additionally we identified metabolites with either positive or negative correlations with maternal environment affected phenotypical traits.AbbreviationsAUCarea under the germination curveDWRdry weight of rootDWSHdry weight of shootFWRfresh weight of rootFWSHfresh weight of shootGmaxmaximum germinationG×Egenotype by environment interactionsHCLhydrochloric acidHThigh temperatureMMSolanum lycopersicum cv. Money makerMRLmain root lengthNLRnumber of lateral rootPCAprinciple component analysisPISolanum pimpinellifoliumT50-1reciprocal of time to reach 50% of germinationTCAtricarboxylic acidU8416uniformity of germination or time from 16% till 84% germination