Technology
Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt have identified HES (Heat Exserted Stigma), a heat stress-induced gene that regulates style length in tomato flowers and thereby influences stigma position, fruit set and yield under elevated temperatures. The technology opens a new route to improve thermotolerance and reproductive stability in modern tomato cultivars.
Using genetic analysis and tomato lines with altered HES activity, the team showed that loss of HES function results in exserted stigma, reduced fruit and seed set, and significantly lower yield under heat stress. In contrast, HES overexpression promotes inserted stigma and leads to improved fruit yield and seed production under both standard and heat stress conditions, without relevant trade-offs for the plant.
