Improving heat stress tolerance in tomato.

Abstract

Abstract Heat stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses in plants. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is sensitive to higher temperatures. Optimum temperatures for tomato production are less than 32/25°C during day and night, respectively. Higher than this temperature causes damage in the plant system and ultimately reduces yield. Reports indicate that it may cause up to 70% crop loss in tomato. With the looming threat of climate change and global warming, it is vital to understand the heat stress tolerance mechanism and current status of efforts to mitigate the damage caused by heat stress in tomato. In this review, we report the physiological mechanism and effect of heat stress in tomato plants at the cellular and whole plant levels. Investigation of tolerance mechanisms may be helpful to design the breeding activities in the future. Furthermore, a summary of breeding efforts made toward the improvement of heat stress tolerance by utilizing genetic and genomic resources in tomato is presented.