Effect of three anthocyaninless genes on germination in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) II. Seed germination under stress conditions

Seeds from four pairs of tomato isogenic/near-isogenic lines (IL/NIL) differing for anthocyaninless of Hoffmann (ah), three pairs of IL/NILs differing for anthocyaninwithout (aw) and six pairs of IL/NILs differing for baby lea syndrome (bls) were evaluated for their germination ability under stress conditions: low and high temperature, salt and osmotic stress. Mutant genes affecting anthocyanin biosynthesis enhanced tomato germination capacity under all above mentioned treatments, except for the aw gene under a PEG-6000 treatment. Testa removal accelerated germination under stress conditions, but differences in time to 50% germination between the wild type lines and their ah-, aw- and bls-IL/NILs although diminished, were not eliminated. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.