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The efficiency of classical Fenton (CF) and modified Fenton (MF) as well as photo‐Fenton processes in real wastewater treatment of pulp and paper (P&P) mill was investigated in this study. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) was chosen as the reference measurement for evaluating the treatment's efficiency. After determining the optimum parameters for each process, the effect of adding ultrasound (US) on improving treatment efficiency was examined. In addition, kinetic study and phytotoxicity analysis were conducted under optimum conditions for all processes. With pH 4, reaction time 50 min, 1.2 g/L Fe2+ and 8 g/L H2O2 dosages, the best removal efficiency (RE) of COD was determined to be 82.18% in CF process, and this rate rose to 90.1% when US was added. The best RE in MF process was 84.16% with the application of UV‐C, pH 4, reaction time 50 min, 1 g/L Fe0 and 8 g/L H2O2 doses, although it increased to 93.4% when US was applied. The greatest results in the seed germination test were achieved in US processes with 100% of germination percentage (GP) for spinach and tomato and 90% for cress. In the economic evaluation, when conducting the treatment without US, the estimated relative cost decreased in a 15 and 16%, for CF/UV‐C and CF processes respectively, whereas the CF process was 64% cheaper than the MF process in all applications. The US contributed to enhanced water treatment efficiency by having a significant synergistic impact on Fenton applications. Hence, the combination of photo‐Fenton and ultrasound to treat effluent from P&P mills proved to be an effective and promising technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 1 millisecond (1‐ms) vision system that guarantees high efficiency and timely response for tomato defect detection is essential for factory automation. Because of various defect appearances, recently many existing researches focus on CNN based defect detection, but few of them attempt to reach high processing speed to adapt to the factorial assembly line. This paper proposes a global to multi‐scale local based parallel architecture with hardwired CNN for tomato defect detection. This architecture breaks down image‐wise detection into pixel‐wise localization and block‐wise classification. The pixel‐wise localization utilizes tomato‐aware information as constraints for localization performance. The block‐wise classification uses a fully pipelined network structure to obtain the classification result for each block as the pixel stream moves through the network. The classification network has a six‐layer lightweight network structure with quantization for hardwired type implementation on FPGA. The experiment results show that the proposed architecture processes 1000 FPS images with 0.9476 ms/frame delay. And for detection performance, this architecture keeps f1−score$f_{1}-score$ at 80.18%, only 1.31% lower than ResNet50 based detection system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality loss and shelf life of cherry tomatoes stored in different types of commercially available bio‐based packaging trays were analysed and compared with the reference materials, corrugated cardboard and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET). During storage under conditions reflecting points in a regional German supply chain, typical quality parameters were investigated. Surface bacterial counts of the packaging materials were investigated before and after storage, and material parameters were determined for selected packaging. The results showed that groundwood pulp and sugar cane trays showed higher preserving characteristics of tomatoes in comparison with the references. During storage, weight loss was highest for tomatoes stored in polylactic acid (PLA). The highest increase in microbial count with 3.5 log10 units was observed after 20 days for tomatoes stored in packaging trays of bamboo. The lowest increase with 0.5 log10 units and 0.6 log10 units was recorded for tomatoes stored in packaging trays of groundwood pulp and grass paper, respectively. The results of the packaging parameters show the highest (411.0 N) and lowest (79.0 N) tensile strength for cellulose and groundwood pulp. The water absorption capacity ranged from <10 g/m2 (bamboo, cellulose) up to 211.2 g/m2 (corrugated cardboard). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The tomato ripening process contains complex changes, including ethylene signalling, cell wall softening and numerous metabolic changes. So far, much is still unknown about how tomato plants precisely coordinate fruit maturation and metabolic regulation. In this paper, the ERF family transcription factor SlERF.G3‐Like in tomato was found to be involved in the regulation of ethylene synthesis, cell wall degradation and the flavonoid pathway. We show that the master ripening regulator SlRIN was found to directly bind to the promoter region of SlERF.G3‐Like to activate its expression. In addition, we managed to increase the production of resveratrol derivatives from ~1.44 mg/g DW in E8:VvStSy line to ~2.43 mg/g DW by crossing p35S: SlERF.G3‐Like with the E8:VvStSy line. Our data provide direct evidence that SlERF.G3‐Like, a hierarchical transcriptional factor, can directly manipulate pathways in which tomatoes can coordinate fruit maturation and metabolic changes. We also attest that SlERF.G3‐Like can be used as an effective tool for phenylpropanoid metabolic engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomatoes are rich in nutrients, yet they have a short shelf life and are prone to decay due to bacterial invasion. Polysaccharides extracted from Osmunda japonica (Thunb) were briefly characterised. The inhibitory effect of polysaccharides on nine kinds of common spoilage and pathogenic bacteria in tomatoes stored postharvest was studied, and the polysaccharides had broad‐spectrum antibacterial and antifungal activities against many tested strains. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and the minimum bactericidal (fungicidal) concentrations (MBCs) were determined, and the lowest MBC against Bacillus cereus was 0.15 g L−1. Various concentrations of an O. japonica (Thunb) polysaccharide (OP) solution were sprayed onto ordinary preservation paper, which then distinctly maintained tomato freshness. OP delayed vitamin C (VC) and titratable acid decreases and increased respiratory intensity in a dose‐dependent manner, reducing malondialdehyde accumulation. The tomatoes could be stored for 30 day at 25 ± 1 °C. OP has potential as a safe, nontoxic natural plant preservative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, 1898 (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), commonly known as the cotton mealybug or solenopsis mealybug, is a highly polyphagous species. This paper provides the first report of this species in Greece. It was detected in high numbers on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants cultivated in a greenhouse in the region of Mirtos, close to the city of Ierapetra in the Southeast part of the island of Crete. The species identification was carried out using morphological and molecular analyses. The fact that P. solenopsis can be transferred easily via trade of live plant material, in combination with its ability to affect many different hosts causing severe damage, constitutes an increasing threat to Greek cultivation and especially to horticultural and vegetable crops. Additional surveys should be conducted to investigate the species distribution in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the development of a tomato‐harvesting robot operating on a plant factory and primarily studies the reachable pose of tomatoes in the nondexterous workspace of manipulator. The end‐effector can only reach the tomatoes with reachable poses when the tomatoes are within the nondexterous workspace. If the grasping pose is not reachable, it will lead to grasping failure. An adaptive end‐effector pose control method based on a genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed to find a reachable pose. The inverse kinematic solution based on analysis method of the manipulator is analyzed and the objective function of whether the manipulator has a solution or not is obtained. The grasping pose is set as an individual owing to the position of the tomatoes is fixed and the grasping pose is variable. The GA is used to solve until a pose that can make the inverse kinematics have a solution is generated. This pose is the reachable grasping pose of the tomato at this position. The quintic interpolation polynomial is used to plan the trajectory to avoid damage to tomatoes owing to fast approaching speed and a distance based background filtering method is proposed. Experiments were performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The radius of the workspace of the UR3e manipulator with the end‐effector increased from 550 to 800 mm and the grasping range expanded by 208%. The harvesting success rate using the adaptive end‐effector pose control method and trajectory planning method was 88%. The cycle of harvesting a tomato was 20 s. The experimental results indicated that the proposed tomato‐recognition and end‐effector pose control method are feasible and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Tomato is one of the widely cultivated crops worldwide that is affected by several pests, such as fungi (Fusarium oxysoporum, Alternaria solani), bacteria (Pectobacterium carotovorum) and weeds (Cyperus iria L., Amaranthus spinosus). A growing interest has emerged for developing plant‐derived pesticidal compounds to counteract these pests. One attractive alternative is to use barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus‐galli), known to be widely resistant to synthetic herbicides, as a potential biopesticide compound source. RESULTS: Phytochemical screening of the crude extract showed that phenolic compounds were the most abundant component present in barnyard grass. The crude extract was evaluated for antifungal, antibacterial and herbicidal activities. Bioassays showed inhibition against F. oxysporum (10.73 ± 1.30%) and A. solani (20.47 ± 3.51%), the causative agent of Fusarium rot and early blight disease in tomato, respectively. Antibacterial activity against P. carotovorum gave a mean zone of inhibition (paper disc diffusion assay) of 17.00 ± 1.00 mm and an IC50 (dose–response assay) of 2.26 mg mL−1 was observed. Dose–responsive herbicidal activity on the lettuce seed germination bioassay produced an IC50 of 459.30 ppm. Selectivity studies showed inhibition towards C. iria and A. spinosus with no effect on tomato. Lastly, bioassay‐guided fractionation coupled with untargeted metabolomics studies using ultra‐performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection–tandem mass spectrometry mass analyses revealed loliolide and tricin as the putative metabolites present in barnyard grass. CONCLUSION: To date, this is the first reported study on using barnyard grass as a potential alternative biopesticide against tomato pests such as fungi, bacteria and weeds. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of agricultural robots and the promotion of agricultural production automation are important means to alleviate the shortage of agricultural labor. Fruit and vegetable detection is a prerequisite for accurate harvesting by robots. It directly determines the efficiency and quality of harvesting operations. In order to meet the requirements of target positioning and recognition of tomato harvesting robots, this paper studies tomato recognition technology based on YOLOv3 convolutional neural network algorithm. And the tomato detection process of the YOLOv3 model is presented. The YOLOv3 model training dataset is constructed based on greenhouse tomato plants. The test results show that the model based on the YOLOv3 convolutional neural network has a better detection effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To preserve vegetables fresh during long‐distance transportation, it is essential to study the heat and mass transfer characteristics inside refrigerated containers with vegetables for preventing vegetables from spoiling and withered. Based on a mechanical refrigerated container filled up with tomatoes, a 3‐D turbulence numerical model considering the heat and mass transfer characteristics of tomatoes was built in this paper. Then the dynamic temperature field, humidity field and water dissipation inside the container were calculated by the new built model for three different stacking methods. In addition, the numerical model was verified through laboratory investigation. The results indicate that in the steady state, the temperature field in the tomato storage area is higher and more layered than the surrounding environment area. The relative humidity in the container falls sharply in the initial period and then gradually increases and stabilizes in the end. When the container's loading rate is constant, compared with dense stacking method, the stacking method with 100 mm interval has a better effect for refrigerated transport. The temperature in the tomato storage area is lower, the relative humidity is higher, and the water dissipation of the tomatoes is less than the dense stacking method. Practical Applications: A 3‐D turbulence numerical model considering the heat and mass transfer characteristics of tomatoes was built to investigate the heat and mass transfer characteristics inside refrigerated containers. The difference between the numerical results calculated with the new built model and the experimental results do not exceed 2%, which is less than the 5% error limit in engineering, indicating that the numerical model established in this paper can effectively reflect the heat and moisture transfer characteristics inside mechanical refrigerated container filled with tomatoes. It can provide theoretical guidance for the optimized design of cargo stacking method in refrigerated containers. What's more, the 3‐D turbulence numerical model has important guiding significance for the study of the temperature and humidity distribution inside mechanical refrigerated container, which can guide the optimal design of the container. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irritant diaper dermatitis is a common dermatologic problem among infants and young children. Severe erosive presentations, although uncommon, are diagnostically challenging and can mimic non‐accidental trauma (NAT). Diagnosing inflicted injury and NAT where it does not exist can cause parental distress, yet failing to diagnose inflicted injury and NAT can result in re‐injury. We describe three cases of severe erosive diaper dermatitis in pediatric patients aged 2–6 years that were initially concerning for inflicted scald burn or neglect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high amount of organic and inorganic wastes has increased the attention to new strategies aiming to reduce the waste disposals. Organic wastes, such as tomato wastes (TWs), are a good source from which the red color can be obtained. Among the different technologies, the geopolymers had been proposed as a powerful technology able to incorporate various kinds of wastes. In this paper, pure metakaolin and a mixture obtained by adding 10% of red TW‐derived (peels) are consolidated by alkali activation at room temperature, 40 and 60°C without the pigment extraction. Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectra confirmed the geopolymerization occurrences. Moreover, the obtained materials are analyzed for their conductivity and pH after the sample extractions at different times. The integrity tests assessed the resistance of the synthesized geopolymers and the presence of red tomato‐wastes led to a release of yellow organic hydro‐soluble compounds. Finally, the weight loss confirmed the integrity test. Indeed, there are no differences at 16 and 30 d. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A critical assessment was carried out to investigate the impact of electrostatic spray coatings as compared to dip coatings on tomatoes which were conducted at 30 ± 2 °C and 60% RH for a period of 30 days. In this paper, the impact of developed polysaccharide‐based coatings (alginate and cellulose coatings with clove oil) and commercially available wax‐based coatings (VMW50+) was compared to that of uncoated tomatoes. The application of alginate‐ and cellulose‐based electrostatically charged sprays was found to significantly (P < 0.05) reduce the weight loss, firmness, colour and bioactive compound degradation and overall flavour loss as compared to uncoated and dip‐based coating during the storage period of 30 days. Moreover, alginate‐ and cellulose‐based electrostatically charged spray coating were more efficient in delaying the spoilage of tomatoes by 20 days as compared to the uncoated one. A significant level of charge‐to‐mass ratio has been achieved, which confirmed the chargeability of coating materials. These findings confirmed the capability of electrostatically charged sprays to extend the shelf life and preserve the overall quality of tomatoes during storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The tomato russet mite, Aculops lycopersici, is a major pest in tomato crops, causing damage through leaf and stem browning, defoliation and russeting of fruit. Biological control of this mite on tomato plants is difficult. While several phytoseiid mites feed on the pest, they cannot survive, move, or reproduce on tomato plants due to the presence of glandular trichomes. Pronematus ubiquitus has recently been identified as a biocontrol agent of A. lycopersici in tomato crops, but the predator–prey interaction between these two species is not well studied. In this paper, we present a validated logistic regression predator–prey model based on a 3‐year study supplemented with additional datasets. Besides the predator and the prey, this model takes into account an extra generalist predator, Macrolophus pygmaeus, and various climate parameters. RESULTS: The population trend of A. lycopersici is best explained by the presence of the predator P. ubiquitus, the relative humidity and the fact that the crop was lit or unlit using artificial light. P. ubiquitus has proved to be an efficient biocontrol agent of A. lycopersici. For P. ubiquitus the presence of M. pygmaeus, the vapour pressure deficit, the number of light hours and radiation explained the population trend best. For both the predator and the prey density‐dependent interactions were identified. Model outcomes are discussed in detail. CONCLUSION: Our study provides insights into the potential use of P. ubiquitus as a biocontrol agent for A. lycopersici in tomato crops in combination with M. pygmaeus. However, we highlight the importance of considering the presence of other predators and environmental conditions when developing integrated pest management strategies. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To mitigate future global energy challenges, it is vital to utilize natural resources to harness sustainable and environmentally‐friendly energy. This paper explores the tribo‐ and piezo‐electric functionalities of tomato peel (TP) to fabricate a nature‐driven hybrid nanogenerator. Tomato is one of the most cultivated vegetables globally, however, a significant amount of TP is disposed after utilization in the food processing industries. The TP possesses a natural hierarchically placed highly porous structure, which is helpful to enhance the output performance of both piezo‐ and tribo‐electric devices. This work shows that a TP based piezo‐electric nanogenerator can produce an open circuit voltage of 24.5 V, short circuit current of 2.5 µA, and maximum instantaneous power of 19.5 µW. In addition, the TP based tribo‐electric nanogenerator generates open circuit voltage, short circuit current, and instantaneous power of 135 V, 81 µA, and 3750 µW, respectively. Combining two NGs functionalities, the proposed TP based tribo‐ and piezo‐electric nanogenerator (TP‐TPENG) shows enhanced output performance with the rectified open circuit voltage, short circuit current, and maximum instantaneous power of 150 V, 84 µA, and 5400 µW, respectively. These results show that the TP‐TPENG can offer a new pathway toward bio‐based nanogeneration and self‐powered sensing green technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of EPPO Bulletin is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Summary: Cell expansion is a significant contributor to organ growth and is driven by the accumulation of osmolytes to increase cell turgor pressure. Metabolic modelling has the potential to provide insights into the processes that underpin osmolyte synthesis and transport, but the main computational approach for predicting metabolic network fluxes, flux balance analysis, often uses biomass composition as the main output constraint and ignores potential changes in cell volume. Here we present growth‐by‐osmotic‐expansion flux balance analysis (GrOE‐FBA), a framework that accounts for both the metabolic and ionic contributions to the osmotica that drive cell expansion, as well as the synthesis of protein, cell wall and cell membrane components required for cell enlargement. Using GrOE‐FBA, the metabolic fluxes in dividing and expanding cells were analysed, and the energetic costs for metabolite biosynthesis and accumulation in the two scenarios were found to be surprisingly similar. The expansion phase of tomato fruit growth was also modelled using a multiphase single‐optimization GrOE‐FBA model and this approach gave accurate predictions of the major metabolite levels throughout fruit development, as well as revealing a role for transitory starch accumulation in ensuring optimal fruit development. Significance Statement: In flux balance analysis (FBA), a modelling approach widely used to study plant metabolism, growth is represented by the accumulation of biomass components in fixed proportions, which can be considered to be true during cell division. In plants, however, much of the observable growth results from cell expansion and so, in this paper, we introduce a framework for using FBA to study metabolism during cell expansion and demonstrate its application in predicting metabolic changes during tomato fruit development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Genome wide screening of pooled pollen samples from a single interspecific F1 hybrid obtained from a cross between tomato, Solanum lycopersicum and its wild relative, Solanum pimpinellifolium using linked read sequencing of the haploid nuclei, allowed profiling of the crossover (CO) and gene conversion (GC) landscape. We observed a striking overlap between cold regions of CO in the male gametes and our previously established F6 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) population. COs were overrepresented in non‐coding regions in the gene promoter and 5′UTR regions of genes. Poly‐A/T and AT rich motifs were found enriched in 1 kb promoter regions flanking the CO sites. Non‐crossover associated allelic and ectopic GCs were detected in most chromosomes, confirming that besides CO, GC represents also a source for genetic diversity and genome plasticity in tomato. Furthermore, we identified processed break junctions pointing at the involvement of both homology directed and non‐homology directed repair pathways, suggesting a recombination machinery in tomato that is more complex than currently anticipated. Significance Statement: This paper reports a technical advance of using linked‐read sequencing to identify meiotic recombination events, both crossovers and non‐crossovers, from the pollen of an F1 tomato hybrid. Meiotic recombination is of basic importance, and also has strategic relevance to crop improvement, particularly in crop species such as tomato where large regions of the chromosomes are non‐recombining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Irrigation & Drainage is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Summary: The wild tomato relative Solanum sitiens is a xerophyte endemic to the Atacama Desert of Chile and a potential source of genes for tolerance to drought, salinity and low‐temperature stresses. However, until recently, strong breeding barriers prevented its hybridization and introgression with cultivated tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L. We overcame these barriers using embryo rescue, bridging lines and allopolyploid hybrids, and synthesized a library of introgression lines (ILs) that captures the genome of S. sitiens in the background of cultivated tomato. The IL library consists of 56 overlapping introgressions that together represent about 93% of the S. sitiens genome: 65% in homozygous and 28% in heterozygous (segregating) ILs. The breakpoints of each segment and the gaps in genome coverage were mapped by single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping using the SolCAP SNP array. Marker‐assisted selection was used to backcross selected introgressions into tomato, to recover a uniform genetic background, to isolate recombinant sub‐lines with shorter introgressions and to select homozygous genotypes. Each IL contains a single S. sitiens chromosome segment, defined by markers, in the genetic background of cv. NC 84173, a fresh market inbred line. Large differences were observed between the lines for both qualitative and quantitative morphological traits, suggesting that the ILs contain highly divergent allelic variation. Several loci contributing to unilateral incompatibility or hybrid necrosis were mapped with the lines. This IL population will facilitate studies of the S. sitiens genome and expands the range of genetic variation available for tomato breeding and research. Significance Statement: This paper describes an introgression line library representing the genome of Solanum sitiens, a wild nightshade native to the Atacama Desert, in the genetic background of cultivated tomato. This introgression line resource expands the gene pool of a major crop plant, and provides a new source of genetic variation for trait discovery and genome analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic detection of tomato leaf spot disease is essential for control and loss reduction. Traditional algorithms face challenges such as large amount of data, multiple training and heavy computation. In this study, a lightweight shared Siamese neural network method was proposed for tomato leaf disease identification, which is suitable for resource‐limited environments. Experiments on Plant‐Village, Taiwan and Taiwan ++ datasets show that the accuracy fluctuates very little even when trained with only 60% of the data, which confirms the effectiveness of the proposed method in the small data environment. In addition, compared with the mainstream algorithms, it improves the accuracy by up to 35.3%on Plant‐Village and two Taiwan datasets respectively. The experimental results also show that the proposed method still performs well when the data is imbalanced and the sample size is small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Cyclic AMP plays important roles in different physiological processes, including plant defence responses. However, as little information is known on plant enzymes responsible for cAMP production/degradation, studies of cAMP functions have relied, to date, on non‐specific pharmacological approaches. We therefore developed a more reliable approach, producing transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana lines overexpressing the 'cAMP‐sponge' (cAS), a genetic tool that specifically buffers cAMP levels. In response to an avirulent strain of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (PstAvrB), cAS plants showed a higher bacterial growth and a reduced hypersensitive cell death in comparison with wild‐type (WT) plants. The low cAMP availability after pathogen infection delayed cytosolic calcium elevation, as well as hydrogen peroxide increase and induction of redox systems. The proteomic analysis, performed 24 h post‐infection, indicated that a core of 49 proteins was modulated in both genotypes, while 16 and 42 proteins were uniquely modulated in WT and cAS lines, respectively. The involvement of these proteins in the impairment of defence response in cAS plants is discussed in this paper. Moreover, in silico analysis revealed that the promoter regions of the genes coding for proteins uniquely accumulating in WT plants shared the CGCG motif, a target of the calcium‐calmodulin‐binding transcription factor AtSR1 (Arabidopsis thaliana signal responsive1). Therefore, following pathogen perception, the low free cAMP content, altering timing and levels of defence signals, and likely acting in part through the mis‐regulation of AtSR1 activity, affected the speed and strength of the immune response. Significance Statement: This study introduces the use of the cAMP‐sponge as a genetic tool to investigate the role of cAMP in plant immune responses, revealing the complexity of the signal network involved in the establishment of plant resistance against an avirulent strain of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. The decrease in free cAMP content, altering the timing and levels of cytosolic calcium and hydrogen peroxide signals upon pathogen perception, affected the speed and strength of the immune response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of EPPO Bulletin is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Summary: The sugar content of Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) fruit is a primary determinant of taste and quality. Cultivated tomato fruit are characterized by near‐equimolar levels of the hexoses glucose and fructose, derived from the hydrolysis of translocated sucrose. As fructose is perceived as approximately twice as sweet as glucose, increasing its concentration at the expense of glucose can improve tomato fruit taste. Introgressions of the FgrH allele from the wild species Solanum habrochaites (LA1777) into cultivated tomato increased the fructose‐to‐glucose ratio of the ripe fruit by reducing glucose levels and concomitantly increasing fructose levels. In order to identify the function of the Fgr gene, we combined a fine‐mapping strategy with RNAseq differential expression analysis of near‐isogenic tomato lines. The results indicated that a SWEET protein was strongly upregulated in the lines with a high fructose‐to‐glucose ratio. Overexpressing the SWEET protein in transgenic tomato plants dramatically reduced the glucose levels and increased the fructose : glucose ratio in the developing fruit, thereby proving the function of the protein. The SWEET protein was localized to the plasma membrane and expression of the SlFgr gene in a yeast line lacking native hexose transporters complemented growth with glucose, but not with fructose. These results indicate that the SlFgr gene encodes a plasma membrane‐localized glucose efflux transporter of the SWEET family, the overexpression of which reduces glucose levels and may allow for increased fructose levels. This article identifies the function of the tomato Fgr gene as a SWEET transporter, the upregulation of which leads to a modified sugar accumulation pattern in the fleshy fruit. The results point to the potential of the inedible wild species to improve fruit sugar accumulation via sugar transport mechanisms. Significance Statement: This paper identifies the function of the tomato Fgr gene as a SWEET transporter whose upregulation leads to a modified sugar accumulation pattern in the fleshy fruit. The results point to the potential of the inedible wild species to impact on fruit sugar accumulation via sugar transport mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eudicot leaves have astoundingly diverse shapes. The central problem addressed in this paper is the developmental origin of this diversity., To investigate this problem, we propose a computational model of leaf development that generalizes the largely conserved molecular program for the reference plants Arabidopsis thaliana, Cardamine hirsuta and Solanum lycopersicum. The model characterizes leaf development as a product of three interwoven processes: the patterning of serrations, lobes and/or leaflets on the leaf margin; the patterning of the vascular system; and the growth of the leaf blade spanning the main veins. The veins play a significant morphogenetic role as a local determinant of growth directions., We show that small variations of this model can produce diverse leaf shapes, from simple to lobed to compound., It is thus plausible that diverse shapes of eudicot leaves result from small variations of a common developmental program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Faster vegetative growth and early maturity/harvest reduce plant life cycle time and are important agricultural traits facilitating early crop rotation. GA is a key hormone governing developmental transitions that determine growth speed in plants. An EAR‐motif repressor, SlERF36 that regulates various growth transitions, partly through regulation of the GA pathway and GA levels, was identified in tomato. Suppression of SlERF36 delayed germination, slowed down organ growth and delayed the onset of flowering time, fruit harvest and whole‐plant senescence by 10–15 days. Its over‐expression promoted faster growth by accelerating all these transitions besides increasing organ expansion and plant height substantially. The plant life cycle and fruit harvest were completed 20–30 days earlier than control without affecting yield, in glasshouse as well as net‐house conditions, across seasons and generations. These changes in life cycle were associated with reciprocal changes in expression of GA pathway genes and basal GA levels between suppression and over‐expression lines. SlERF36 interacted with the promoters of two GA2 oxidase genes, SlGA2ox3 and SlGA2ox4, and the DELLA gene, SlDELLA, reducing their transcription and causing a 3–5‐fold increase in basal GA3/GA4 levels. Its suppression increased SlGA2ox3/4 transcript levels and reduced GA3/GA4 levels by 30%–50%. SlERF36 is conserved across families making it an important candidate in agricultural and horticultural crops for manipulation of plant growth and developmental transitions to reduce life cycles for faster harvest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of deep learning theory, the application of Yolov3 in fruit detection has been widely studied. Aiming at the problem that Yolov3 loses information during network transmission and the semantic feature extraction of small targets is not rich, this article proposed an improved Yolov3 cherry tomato detection algorithm. Firstly, the proposed algorithm uses dual path network as a feature extraction network to extract richer small target semantic features. Second, four feature layers with different scales are established for multiscale prediction. Finally, the improved K‐means++ clustering algorithm is used to calculate the scale of anchor boxes. Experiments showed that the algorithm has a precision rate of 94.29%, a recall rate of 94.07%, and an F1 value of 94.18%. The F1 value is 1.54% higher than Faster R‐CNN and 3.45% higher than Yolov3. It takes 58 ms on average to recognize an image, which provides a theoretical basis for the fruit detection. Practical Applications: Fruit picking is a labor‐intensive task. Traditionally, fruit picking relies on manpower. This method of harvesting has high cost and low efficiency, which seriously hinders the development of the fruit industry. This research uses deep learning algorithms to detect and recognize cherry tomatoes, guide robots in picking, and improve production efficiency. It is of great value to the recognition technology of industrial‐scale fruit picking robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible and hydrophobic biobased films were obtained using zein esterified with methanol and para‐toluene (p‐toluene) sulfonic acid, cutin from tomato peels and ethanol. Esterification was confirmed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance and attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐FTIR). Non‐modified zein films were brittle and hydrophilic. ATR‐FTIR demonstrated that zein esterification increased zein hydrophobicity. Without cutin, esterified zein films were hydrophobic but brittle. Addition of cutin yielded films that were flexible and hydrophobic, as demonstrated by contact angle measurements. Principal component analysis (PCA) of ATR‐FTIR data showed that intensities at 3195 cm−1 and 3490 cm−1 were correlated to the relative hydrophobicity of zein films. PCA also showed that films of esterified zein and cutin were more hydrophobic than their counterparts (non‐modified zein without cutin). Optical and scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that esterified zein was compatible with cutin and yielded cohesive films, which did not fracture upon bending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tomato accession LA1996, which carries a dominant allele of anthocyanin fruit (Aft) locus, accumulates anthocyanins in the epidermis of fruits when exposed to sunlight. The involvement of blue, UV‐A, UV‐B and a combination of these wavelengths on anthocyanin accumulation and the molecular mechanism of their regulation was investigated in LA1996. The most effective treatment for inducing anthocyanin biosynthesis in Aft fruits was co‐irradiation with blue and UV‐B (blue + UV‐B) light. Finding the correlated genes is an important approach towards understanding their molecular mechanisms.In the present study, the nitrate reductase (NR) gene SlNIA was isolated using RNA‐seq profiling of Aft fruits given different light treatments. The functions of NR‐mediated anthocyanin induction by blue + UV‐B were confirmed using a series of chemical treatments, followed by assessment of NR activity and nitric oxide (NO) detection.The expression of NR was highly induced by blue + UV‐B, and this specificity was also confirmed with the enzyme activity of NR and the NO concentration. The NR inhibitors, which reduce NO generation, the expression levels of anthocyanin related genes and decreased anthocyanin accumulation in LA1996.Our results suggest that NR plays a key role in blue + UV‐B‐mediated anthocyanin accumulation in LA1996 fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Heat stress causes dysfunction of the carbon‐assimilation metabolism. As a member of Calvin–Benson–Bassham (CBB) cycle, the chloroplast triose phosphate isomerases (TPI) catalyse the interconversion of glyceraldehyde 3‐phosphate (GAP) and dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP). The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) genome contains two individual SlTPI genes, Solyc10g054870 and Solyc01g111120, which encode the chloroplast‐located proteins SlTPI1 and SlTPI2, respectively. The tpi1 and tpi2 single mutants had no visible phenotypes, but the leaves of their double mutant lines tpi1tpi2 had obviously reduced TPI activity and displayed chlorotic variegation, dysplasic chloroplasts and lower carbon‐assimilation efficiency. In addition to altering carbon metabolism, proteomic data showed that the loss of both SlTPI1 and SlTPI2 severely affected photosystem proteins, reducing photosynthetic capacity. None of these phenotypes was evident in the tpi1 or tpi2 single mutants, suggesting that SlTPI1 and SlTPI2 are functionally redundant. However, the two proteins differed in their responses to heat stress; the protein encoded by the heat‐induced SlTPI2 showed a higher level of thermotolerance than that encoded by the heat‐suppressed SlTPI1. Notably, heat‐induced transcription factors, SlWRKY21 and SlHSFA2/7, which negatively regulated SlTPI1 expression and positively regulated SlTPI2 expression, respectively. Our findings thus reveal that SlTPI1 and SlTPI2 have different thermostabilities and expression patterns in response to heat stress, which have the potential to be applied in thermotolerance strategies in crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternaria spp. cause different diseases in potato and tomato crops. Early blight caused by Alternaria solani and brown spot caused by Alternaria alternata are most common, but the disease complex is far more diverse. We first provide an overview of the Alternaria species infecting the two host plants to alleviate some of the confusion that arises from the taxonomic rearrangements in this fungal genus. Highlighting the diversity of Alternaria fungi on both solanaceous hosts, we review studies investigating the genetic diversity and genomes, before we present recent advances from studies elucidating host–pathogen interactions and fungicide resistances. Taxonomy: Kingdom Fungi, Phylum Ascomycota, Class Dothideomycetes, Order Pleosporales, Family Pleosporaceae, Genus Alternaria. Biology and host range: Alternaria spp. adopt diverse lifestyles. We specifically review Alternaria spp. that cause disease in the two solanaceous crops potato (Solanum tuberosum) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). They are necrotrophic pathogens with no known sexual stage, despite some signatures of recombination. Disease symptoms: Symptoms of the early blight/brown spot disease complex include foliar lesions that first present as brown spots, depending on the species with characteristic concentric rings, which eventually lead to severe defoliation and considerable yield loss. Control: Good field hygiene can keep the disease pressure low. Some potato and tomato cultivars show differences in susceptibility, but there are no fully resistant varieties known. Therefore, the main control mechanism is treatment with fungicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Personality and human values have shown effects on consumer preferences and willingness to pay. This paper analyzes simultaneously the impact of human values and personality on the demand for organic tomatoes applying open-ended choice experiments. Results show that consumers make a distinction between conventional and organic tomatoes, such that human values have a differential impact with regard to predicting demand for products associated with organic labels. Consumers with strong individualistic domains of hedonism and stimulation are more likely to have a higher demand for organic, the same holds for consumers with the strong collectivist domain conformity, and those values that regard both (security and universalism). Also, consumers distinguish between conventional and organic tomatoes, such that personality has a differential impact with regard to predicting demand for organic products. The more agreeable the consumer, the higher the demand for organic tomatoes. In addition, results indicate that when modeled simultaneously, values are more stable in affecting demand compared to effects resulting from personality. Overall, results indicate that human values and personality are able to explain a portion of the variability of demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The paper explores the characteristics of spatial price movements for fresh vegetables. The analysis is conducted on tomato and cauliflower prices collected on main production and consumption European markets. We estimate an asymmetric threshold autoregressive econometric model and provide estimates of transaction costs and speeds of price transmission among spatially separated markets. We assess the average elapsing time for the transmission of price shocks. In eight of ten cases we found that spatial price transmissions is not symmetric. Moreover in most cases we conclude that tomato and cauliflower markets are not efficient. We convey interesting policy considerations for the fresh vegetables sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of the active ingredient of a commercial bioinsecticide, XenTari® (Bacillus thuringiensis [BT] serovar aizawai strain ABTS‐1857), to suppress gray mold in tomato plants was elucidated. First, a suspension of the active ingredient of XenTari® and a liquid culture of the bacterial strain as BT inocula were sprayed onto detached leaves or drenched into pots of tomato seedlings, and then, propagules of the gray mold fungus, Botrytis cinerea, were inoculated onto the leaves. The gray mold disease was significantly suppressed when rhizospheres were drenched with either inoculum, but not when inocula were sprayed onto detached leaves of seedlings. Both BT inocula were verified not to directly inhibit the mycelial growth of B. cinerea based on in vitro culture plate assays. Additionally, real‐time RT‐PCR analysis verified that the active ingredient increased the expression levels of defence‐related genes, such as PR‐1(P6) and P4, in the leaves of tomato seedlings. These results suggest that the active ingredient has the potential to suppress gray mold disease in tomato, not through direct antagonistic interactions with B. cinerea, but rather through systemic activation of the plant defence system by increased expression of several defence‐related genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria enhances nutritional availability during root colonization. Pseudomonas is the most popular bioinoculant due to its synergistic effects on plant development. This study evaluated the impact of four Pseudomonas strain substrate inoculations on tomato phenology, yield, and selected phytochemical components relevant to human health. The bacterial isolates have been characterized morphologically, biochemically, physiologically, and phylogenetically. Tomato plants on cocopeat substrate were inoculated individually with a bacterial suspension (optical density [OD]600 2.0). Controls included nitrogen–phosphate–potassium (NPK) fertilizer and tap water. The greenhouse experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with five replications. Data were taken 30, 60, 90, and 120 days after inoculation. All four bacterial isolates could fix nitrogen, solubilize phosphate, and potassium and synthesize indole acetic acid in vitro. The 16S rRNA of the strains BF1P2‐6, BF2P1‐2, BF2P5‐1, and BF4P2‐5 were identified as Pseudomonas putida Y22, Pseudomonas taiwanensis GDLB‐32, Pseudomonas monteilii Bil‐NOR3_15, and Pseudomonas fluorescens Y5, respectively. The strains grew best at pH 7, NaCl 0.0%, and 35°C. Inoculated tomato plants tested over a period of 4 months in a greenhouse showed a significant increase in growth, leaf variables, and yield attributes. Pseudomonas‐inoculated plants were the highest in tannins (46.96 mg/100 g), followed by lycopene (45.57 mg/100 g) and Carotenoids (31.87 mg/100 g). The antioxidant activity of tomato fruit extracts showed the potential for free radicals scavenging activity against 2, 2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl. Conditions such as pH and electrical conductivity for the cocopeat substrate were within acceptable limits. Bacterial strains and NPK increased cocopeat nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium bioavailability. This study reveals that Pseudomonas strains improve plant growth, yield, and health‐related phytochemical substances in tomato fruits, which could broaden their application in fruit and vegetable crops. Core Ideas: Substrate inoculation with Pseudomonas strains positively influences the phenology of tomato plants.Pseudomonas inoculation boosts tomato yield compared to non‐inoculated plants, hinting a synergy with plants.Pseudomonas inoculation increased tomato phytochemicals, potentially enhancing antioxidants and vitamins.Potent Pseudomonas strains that boost tomato growth and human health‐related phytochemicals were identified.A potential eco‐friendly and sustainable agriculture practices to enhance crop production and nutritional quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

α‐Tomatine is a major saponin that accumulates in tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum). We previously reported that α‐tomatine secreted from tomato roots modulates root‐associated bacterial communities, particularly by enriching the abundance of Sphingobium belonging to the family Sphingomonadaceae. To further characterize the α‐tomatine‐mediated interactions between tomato plants and soil bacterial microbiota, we first cultivated tomato plants in pots containing different microbial inoculants originating from three field soils. Four bacterial genera, namely, Sphingobium, Bradyrhizobium, Cupriavidus, and Rhizobacter, were found to be commonly enriched in tomato root‐associated bacterial communities. We constructed a pseudo‐rhizosphere system using a mullite ceramic tube as an artificial root to investigate the influence of α‐tomatine in modifying bacterial communities. The addition of α‐tomatine from the artificial root resulted in the formation of a concentration gradient of α‐tomatine that mimicked the tomato rhizosphere, and distinctive bacterial communities were observed in the soil close to the artificial root. Sphingobium was enriched according to the α‐tomatine concentration gradient, whereas Bradyrhizobium, Cupriavidus, and Rhizobacter were not enriched in α‐tomatine‐treated soil. The tomato root‐associated bacterial communities were similar to the soil bacterial communities in the vicinity of artificial root‐secreting exudates; however, hierarchical cluster analysis revealed a distinction between root‐associated and pseudo‐rhizosphere bacterial communities. These results suggest that the pseudo‐rhizosphere device at least partially creates a rhizosphere environment in which α‐tomatine enhances the abundance of Sphingobium in the vicinity of the root. Enrichment of Sphingobium in the tomato rhizosphere was also apparent in publicly available microbiota data, further supporting the tight association between tomato roots and Sphingobium mediated by α‐tomatine. A tight association between tomato root and Sphingobium was demonstrated using a pseudo‐rhizosphere system with a concentration gradient of α‐tomatine and meta‐analysis of the rhizosphere microbiome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant Na+/H+antiporter (NHX) genes enhance salt tolerance by preventing excessive Na+ accumulation in the cytosol through partitioning of Na+ ions into vacuoles or extracellular transport across the plasma membrane. However, there is limited detailed information regarding the salt stress responsive SlNHXs in the most recent tomato genome. We investigated the role of this gene family's expression patterns in the open flower tissues under salt shock in Solanum lycopersicum using a genome‐wide approach. A total of seven putative SlNHX genes located on chromosomes 1, 4, 6, and 10 were identified, but no ortholog of the NHX5 gene was identified in the tomato genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these genes are divided into three different groups. SlNHX proteins with 10–12 transmembrane domains were hypothetically localized in vacuoles or cell membranes. Promoter analysis revealed that SlNHX6 and SlNHX8 are involved with the stress‐related MeJA hormone in response to salt stress signaling. The structural motif analysis of SlNHX1, −2, −3, −4, and −6 proteins showed that they have highly conserved amiloride binding sites. The protein–protein network revealed that SlNHX7 and SlNHX8 interact physically with Salt Overly Sensitive (SOS) pathway proteins. Transcriptome analysis demonstrated that the SlNHX2 and SlNHX6 genes were substantially expressed in the open flower tissues. Moreover, quantitative PCR analysis indicated that all SlNHX genes, particularly SlNHX6 and SlNHX8, are significantly upregulated by salt shock in the open flower tissues. Our results provide an updated framework for future genetic research and development of breeding strategies against salt stress in the tomato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a storage study was conducted to find suitable packaging material for tomato powder storage. Experiments were laid out in a single factor completely randomized design (CRD) to study the effect of packaging materials on lycopene, vitamin C moisture content, and water activity of tomato powder; The factor (packaging materials) has three levels (low‐density polyethylene bag, polypropylene bottle, wrapped with aluminum foils, and packed in low‐density polyethylene bag) and is replicated three times. During the study, a twin layer solar tunnel dried tomato slices of var. Galilea was used. The dried tomato slices were then ground and packed (40 g each) in the packaging materials and stored at room temperature. Samples were drawn from the packages at 2‐month interval for quality analysis and SAS (version 9.2) software was used for statistical analysis. From the result, higher retention of lycopene (80.13%) and vitamin C (49.32%) and a nonsignificant increase in moisture content and water activity were observed for tomato powder packed in polypropylene bottles after 6 months of storage. For low‐density polyethylene packed samples and samples wrapped with aluminum foil and packed in a low‐density polyethylene bag, 57.06% and 60.45% lycopene retention and 42.9% and 49.23% Vitamin C retention were observed, respectively, after 6 months of storage. Considering the results found, it can be concluded that lycopene and vitamin C content of twin layer solar tunnel dried tomato powder can be preserved at ambient temperature storage by packing in a polypropylene bottle with a safe range of moisture content and water activity levels for 6 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluopyram, as a novel succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs) fungicide, was applied for controlling grey mould in China. In order to investigate the possible development of resistance development of Botrytis cinerea to fluopyram, Botrytis cinerea were collected from eight areas in Liaoning Province, and the sensitivities of these isolates were assessed by mycelium growth and the fitness and resistance mechanism of resistant isolates screened. The results showed that the sensitivity baseline of B. cinerea to fluopyram was (4.82 ± 1.49) μg/mL, and 5 low resistance isolates to fluopyram were detected. The fitness of resistant isolates showed a downward trend of several variables, such as mycelium growth, mycelium dry weight, sporulation and lesion diameter, which were significantly lower than those of sensitive isolates. Conidia germination did not differ significantly between sensitive and resistant isolates. There was no cross‐resistance between fluopyram and fludioxonil/boscalid/pyrimethanil/procymidone/carbendazim. The succinate dehydrogenase activity of resistant isolates was higher than that of sensitive isolates with fluopyram or not, and the inhibition of fluopyram on succinate dehydrogenase of sensitive isolates was greater than that of resistant isolates. Resistant isolates AS8 and AS14 carried the point mutation (N230I) in subunit B. These results provided that fluopyram belonged to a medium‐high resistance risk to B. cinerea. Information for managing resistance suggested that (1) the number of fluopyram applications should be limited to one per season and (2) fluopyram could be a valid alternative to fludioxonil, pyrimethanil, procymidone and carbendazim for the control of grey mould of tomato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato is among the priority crops of greenhouse cultivation in Turkey and in the world. One of the most important fungal diseases of tomatoes is grey mould. Botrytis cinerea, B. cinerea group S and Botrytis pseudocinerea have been reported previously as causes of grey mould disease on tomatoes. The objectives of this study were to characterize the common grey mould population, their virulence levels, and identify the possible cryptic Botrytis species occurring on greenhouse tomatoes in Turkey. Botrytis species were identified using the RPB2, G3PDH, HSP60 and NEP2 sequences. The predominant grey mould pathogen was B. cinerea. B. cinerea group S and B. pseudocinerea were not isolated. The MH69 isolate was identified as Botrytis prunorum. This is the first time that this cryptic species has been reported causing disease on tomatoes. Differences in the virulence levels of B. cinerea isolates were observed. The virulence of the B. prunorum isolate was found to be lower than most of the B. cinerea isolates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is a necessary macronutrient for basic biological processes. Plants modulate their root system architecture (RSA) and cellular processes to adapt to Pi deprivation albeit with a growth penalty. Excess application of Pi fertilizer, on the contrary, leads to eutrophication and has a negative environmental impact.We compared RSA, root hair elongation, acid phosphatase activity, metal ion accumulation, and brassinosteroid hormone levels of Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) and Solanum pennellii, which is a wild relative of tomato, under Pi sufficiency and deficiency conditions to understand the molecular mechanism of Pi deprivation response in tomato.We showed that S. pennellii is partially insensitive to phosphate deprivation. Furthermore, it mounts a constitutive response under phosphate sufficiency. We demonstrate that activated brassinosteroid signaling through a tomato BZR1 ortholog gives rise to the same constitutive phosphate deficiency response, which is dependent on zinc overaccumulation.Collectively, these results reveal an additional strategy by which plants can adapt to phosphate starvation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In vivo haploid induction has been extended from maize to monocotyledonous plants like rice, wheat, millet and dicotyledonous plants such as tomato, rapeseed, tobacco and cabbage. Accurate identification of haploids is a crucial step of doubled haploid technology, where a useful identification marker is very pivotal. R1‐nj is an extensively used visual marker for haploid identification in maize. RFP and eGFP have been shown to be feasible in identifying haploid. However, these methods are either limited to specific species, or require specific equipment. It still lacks an efficient visual marker that is practical across different crop species. In this study, we introduced the RUBY reporter, a betalain biosynthesis system, into maize and tomato haploid inducers as a new marker for haploid identification. Results showed that expression of RUBY could result in deep betalain pigmentation in maize embryos as early as 10 days after pollination, and enabled 100% accuracy of immature haploid embryo identification. Further investigation in tomato revealed that the new marker led to deep red pigmentation in radicles and haploids can be identified easily and accurately. The results demonstrated that the RUBY reporter is a background‐independent and efficient marker for haploid identification and would be promising in doubled haploid breeding across different crop species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Edible insects, such as palm weevil larvae, have been promoted as an alternative source of nutrients in developing countries for their nutritional benefits, cost‐effective rearing, and yearly availability. Unfortunately, consumer acceptance remains a barrier to their utilization. A supplemental palm weevil larvae and tomato paste were developed as part of efforts to understand whether incorporating edible insects into staple foods could help overcome this barrier. Palm weevil larvae flour and tomato paste were mixed in three formulations that had 8, 15, and 30% of palm weevil larvae flour. Samples were subjected to proximate and mineral content analyses and sensory evaluation. Among the blends, tomato paste containing 30% palm weevil larvae had the highest protein, fat, and total solids content as compared to unfortified tomato paste. Iron and zinc levels also increased with increasing levels of palm weevil larvae flour. Carbohydrate and crude fiber concentrations of the samples, however, decreased with increasing fortification levels. The overall acceptance and willingness to purchase fortified tomato paste as determined by sensory evaluation was high for all samples and increased with increasing knowledge about palm weevil larvae's nutritional benefits. Overall acceptance and willingness to purchase fortified tomato paste were significantly dependent on the samples' color and consumers' overall liking of the products. Tomato paste fortified with palm weevil larvae can provide a complementary source of iron for Ghanaians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recombination is common in plant viruses such as geminiviruses, but the ecological and pathogenic consequences have been explored only in a few cases. Here, we found that a new begomovirus, tomato yellow leaf curl Shuangbai virus (TYLCSbV), probably originated from the recombination of Ageratum yellow vein China virus (AYVCNV) and tobacco curl shoot virus (TbCSV). Agrobacterium‐mediated inoculation showed that TYLCSbV and AYVCNV have similar levels of infectivity on tomato and tobacco plants. However, the two viruses exhibit contrasting specificities for vector transmission, that is, TYLCSbV was efficiently transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci Mediterranean (MED) rather than by the whitefly B. tabaci Middle East‐Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1), whereas AYVCNV was more efficiently transmitted by MEAM1. We also showed that the transmission efficiencies of TYLCSbV and AYVCNV are positively correlated with the accumulation of the viruses in whitefly whole bodies and organs/tissues. The key coat protein amino acids that determine their accumulation are between positions 147 and 256. Moreover, field surveys suggest that MED has displaced MEAM1 in some regions where TYLCSbV was collected. Viral competition assays indicated that TYLCSbV outcompeted AYVCNV when transmitted by MED, while the outcome was the opposite when transmitted by MEAM1. Our findings suggest that recombination has resulted in a shift of vector specificity that could provide TYLCSbV with a potential selective transmission advantage, and the population shift of whitefly cryptic species could have influenced virus evolution towards an extended trajectory of transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Crop loss due to soil salinization is a global threat to agriculture. Nitric oxide (NO) and ethylene involve in multiple plant tolerance. However, their interaction in salt resistance remains largely elusive.We tested the mutual induction between NO and ethylene, and then identified an 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylate oxidase homolog 4 (ACOh4) that influences ethylene synthesis and salt tolerance through NO‐mediated S‐nitrosylation.Both NO and ethylene positively responded to salt stress. Furthermore, NO participated in salt‐induced ethylene production. Salt tolerance evaluation showed that function of NO was abolished by inhibiting ethylene production. Conversely, function of ethylene was little influenced by blocking NO generation. ACO was identified as the target of NO to control ethylene synthesis. In vitro and in vivo results suggested that ACOh4 was S‐nitrosylated at Cys172, resulting in its enzymatic activation. Moreover, ACOh4 was induced by NO through transcriptional manner. Knockdown of ACOh4 abolished NO‐induced ethylene production and salt tolerance. At physiological status, ACOh4 positively regulates the Na+ and H+ efflux, and keeps K+/Na+ homeostasis by promoting salt‐resistive genes' transcripts.Our findings validate a role of NO‐ethylene module in salt tolerance and uncover a novel mechanism of how NO promoting ethylene synthesis against adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wounding‐responsive KED gene, named for its coding for a lysine (K), glutamic acid (E), and aspartic acid (D)‐rich protein, is widely present among land plants. However, little is known about its regulation or function. In this study, we found that transcription of the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) KED gene, SlKED, was rapidly and transiently elevated by wounding or ethephon treatment. Compared to the wild‐type plants, the CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated SlKED knockout plants did not exhibit altered expression patterns for genes involved in hormone biosynthesis or stress signaling, suggesting a lack of pleiotropic effect on other stress‐responsive genes. Conversely, jasmonic acid did not appear to directly regulate SlKED expression. Wounded leaves of the KED‐lacking plants exhibited higher binding of Evans blue dye than the wild‐type, indicating a possible role for KED in healing damaged tissues. The SlKED knockout plants showed a similar dietary effect as the wild‐type on the larval growth of tobacco hornworm. But a higher frequency of larval mandible (mouth) movement was recorded during the first 2 minutes of feeding on the wounded KED‐lacking SlKED knockout plants than on the wounded KED‐producing wild‐type plants, probably reflecting an initial differential response by the feeding larvae to the SlKED knockout plants. Our findings suggest that SlKED may be an ethylene‐mediated early responder to mechanical stress in tomato, acting downstream of the wound stress response pathways. Although its possible involvement in response to other biotic and abiotic stresses is still unclear, we propose that SlKED may play a role in plant's rapid, short‐term, early wounding responses, such as in cellular damage healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halophyte‐based intercropping appears nowadays as a valuable approach in soil remediation and agriculture. In this work, intercropping between the halophyte Arthrocaulon macrostachyum and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. Sargento) was studied in both plant species using comparative mass spectrometry‐based metabolomics coupled to metabolic pathway predictions. A significant number of changes in metabolites was observed in the halophyte. In terms of alteration of specific metabolic pathways, intercropping conditions stimulated sugar and starch metabolisms in tomato, whereas in the halophyte, intercropping mainly altered amino acid‐related pathways. In addition, arginine and proline metabolism were commonly affected in both tomato and halophyte plants. Moreover, metabolomic changes were associated with physiological alterations in tomato. In this sense, mild oxidative stress was induced in intercropped tomato plants, which, in turn, could trigger signaling events leading to plant adjustment to intercropping conditions. This study represents the first approach toward understanding intercropping interactions at the metabolome level and its effect on plant physiology, opening up prospects for further characterization of this crop cultivation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruits and vegetables have shorter shelf life due to their perishable nature. Tomato, being a nutritionally rich fruit needs to be preserved for a longer period. In this context, this study was designed to dry the tomato slices through microwave–vacuum drying. This process was optimized for moisture ratio and drying rate using response surface methodology (RSM). The process was investigated at different power levels (30, 50, 80, and 100 W), pressure (0, 15, 20, and 25 inHg), and time (0, 4, 6, and 10 min) using Box–Behnken design. Results indicated that color, energy efficiency, and drying characteristics were significantly affected by changing power, vacuum levels, and processing time. Besides, nine mathematical models were applied on experimental data to deeply understand the moisture ratio of tomato slices. Amongst, Midilli model was found best to describe the drying process at 100 W and 25 inHg supported by R2 (0.9989), RMSE (0.001), and X2 (1.34e−4). This study was focused on finding the optimal combinations of power, vacuum pressure, and time for better drying and reduced wastage of the fruit owing to its perishable nature. From all the microwave powers, higher microwave power and vacuum level showed better energy consumption, energy efficiencies, color retention, and rehydration capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]