Figure 1. Tomato anther development and fruit yield under
drought stress. (A) Soil moisture content (%) during the
period watering was suspended to 5 days after re-watering (DARW).
(B) Number of opened flowers/day during the stress period to 19
DARW. (C) Aborted flower buds at 3 specific stages of anther
development from drought-stressed (DS) plants. Bud development stage was
determined by staining with DAPI and measurement of bud length. TED,
tetrad stage; EUM, early uninucleate microspore stage; VUM, vacuolated
uninucleate microspore stage. (D) Flower abortion, fruit set
and fruit yield of DS plants. Aborted flowers abscised at the abscission
layer between the upper and lower pedicel after failure of
fertilization. Fruits were harvested at maturity and weighed to
determine the fruit yield in gram/plant. ABL, abscission layer.(E) Morphology of flowers and stamens 4 d after DS and
rewatering (DS-ARW). Flowers were sampled after 4 d of DS (DS 4 d),
between 9-11 DARW (type-3, red arrow indicates stigma exsertion); 10-12
DARW (type-2); 11-19 DARW (type-1). Values presented are means ± SD (n=3
biological replicates, 4 plants each); * p <0.05; **p <0.01; *** p < 0.001 (t-test).