Plant husbandry – Process
Patent
1997-01-15
2000-10-24
Benzion, Gary
Plant husbandry
Process
800260, 800271, 800274, 504116, A01G 100, A01G 700
Patent
active
061348295
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
There is provided a method for inducing essentially simultaneous ripening of tomato, thus facilitating "once go-over" harvesting, which saves manpower and costs. The basis is the use of certain sterile tomato genotypes, which are treated at a suitable period of time with a growth inducing substance which results in parthenocarpic fruit set. Amongst suitable substances are auxins or auxin transport inhibitors.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Tomato fruit harvest with manual labor is a costly process. Synchronized vine ripening of tomato fruits allows either mechanical harvest or once over manual harvest which is much more cost effective. Even with varieties having a determinate growth habit the duration of flowering and fruit set ranges between 3 to 6 weeks and this reflects on the duration of fruit ripening. With tomatoes, mechanical harvesting of ripe fruit is possible only in the spring summer-season, in which the ripening period is shorter than the flowering one due to a continuous rise in temperature. But even in this case some fruit stay ripe on the vine for a few weeks, which results in poor quality.
Nowadays, methods of concentrating yield within a rather short period of time are based on cultivation of certain genotypes in certain seasons, usually planting in spring and summer. Although this method provides satisfactory results, it is restricted to certain seasons of the year.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1: Accumulation of harvest of Line 599(A) and 606(B) of series C, and of Line 599(C) and (D), series D. Fertile Plants (A,C), infertile ones (B,D) of the two lines were sprayed by N-m-tolylphtalamic acid of 0.6% at the 7 to 9 trusses stage. Fertile plots not sprayed of the two lines are marked (o). Standard deviation is marked, and if smaller than the marker, not marked.
FIG. 2: Accumulation of harvest of lines 599(A,B) and 606(C,D), which were planted in Series 3. Fertile plots (A,C marked with empty signs), and infertile plots (B,D, full signs), of the two lines were sprayed with 0.6% N-m-tolylphtalamic acid of 3 to 5, 7 to 9 and 10 to 12 trusses. Standard deviation is marked on the signs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a method according to which tomatoes are cultivated in such a manner that they ripen on the vine within a short period of time, and can be harvested by a "once over" hand picking or by mechanical harvesting.
In tomatoes there are known a large number of recessive genes which cause male sterility by disrupting the first meiosos at the metaphase stage.
Some male sterility genes in tomato, including ms 10/35 are used for hybrid seed production. A seedling marker gene, anthocyanin absent which is closely linked to ms 10/35 (1.7.+-.1.1 centi morgan) can be used to increase to 96-98% the number of sterile plants in segregating populations (Philouze J. (1974) Ann Amilior Plant 24: 77-82).
Parthenocarpy was termed by Noll (1902), for the development of fruit without seeds in the absence of functional pollen. In tomato, genetically controlled parthenocarpy was associated with increased levels of auxin, at anthesis with a maximum two day after anthesis, while in normal pollinated developing ovary the maximum is at the eighth day (Mapelli et al 1978, Sjut and Bangerth, 1981). Application of various auxin-like compounds has led to parthenocarpy and improved fruit set and increase in fruit size. Under adverse climatical conditions, in particular at high and low temperatures, which disrupt pollen production and pollination, application of growth substances was used to induce parthenocarpy. Two groups of synthetic auxines, derivatives of naphthalenic acid and of chlorophenoxy acid are used. Another group of derivatives of phtalamic acids, which inhibit auxin transport, are also used to induce parthenocarpy. The application is either by spraying the flower truss or by whole plant application, with the former method being mostly used in tomato green house production at low temperatures.
The present invention rel
REFERENCES:
Casas Diaz et al. Effects of parthenocarpy on fruit quality in tomato. Joal of the American Society of Horticultural Science, 112:634-637, 1987.
Lipari et al. Parthenocarpy and auxinic treatments in fruiting of tomato in a cold greenhouse. Acta Horticulturae, 229:307-312, 1988.
Tigchelaar. Tomato breeding, In: Breeding Vegetable Crops, Mark Bassett, Ed. The Avi Publishing Co., Connecticut, 1986.
Elkind Yonatan
Zaidman Ben-Zion
Benzion Gary
Kimball Melissa L.
YISSUM Research Development Company of The Hebrew University of
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