SEED AND FRUIT-SET OF THE LATERAL SUPPRESSOR MUTANT OF TOMATO

The lateral suppressor mutant (ls) of tomato, mainly characterised by the suppression of axillary shoot development, exhibits reduced fruit growth, thereby limiting its use in tomato production. In this study m ale and female fertility, seed and fruit set have been investigated in detail. Mutant flowers produced less pollen. Pollinations with wild t ype pollen showed that mutant flowers exhibit reduced female fertility . With the ls mutant, reduced fruit weight due to decreased seed numbe rs was partly compensated by an additional stimulus of fruit growth, s ince mutant fruits were heavier than wild type fruits, when fruits wit h similar amounts of seeds were compared.