USA: American researchers breed heat-resistant tomatoes

By studying tomato varieties that bear fruit in an extremely hot season, biologists from Brown University (USA) determined the phase of the growth cycle when tomatoes are most vulnerable to extreme heat, as well as the molecular mechanisms that make plants more resistant to high temperatures. This is reported by Science Daily. Researchers say the discovery, detailed in a study in Current Biology, could shape a key strategy for protecting food resources in the face of climate instability. Agricultural productivity is particularly vulnerable to climate change, the study notes, with rising temperatures projected to reduce crop yields by 2.5% to 16% for every additional 1 degree Celsius of seasonal warming. Scientists took some lessons from evolution to experiment with how best to speed up the adaptation process of tomato plant varieties, explained study author Sorel V. Yimga Wonkap is a research associate in molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemistry at Brown. It would take a ...