Adaptation to Water and Salt Stresses of Solanum pimpinellifolium and Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme

Solanum pimpinellifoliumandSolanum lycopersicumvar.cerasiformerepresent a valuable tool for tomato breeding, particularly for tolerance to abiotic stresses. Water stress and salinity are major constraints to tomato's cultivation, and for which limited genetic variability has been reported within the cultivated species. We evaluated four accessions ofS. pimpinellifoliumand four ofS. l.var.cerasiformefor their adaptation to water deficit and salinity. The CO(2)assimilation rate, stomatal conductance, substomatal CO(2)concentration, transpiration rate, and leaf chlorophyll concentration were evaluated, as well as morphological and agronomic traits. The accessions showed a remarkable inter- and intra-species response variability to both stresses. TwoS. pimpinellifoliumaccessions and oneS. l.var.cerasiformeshowed unaltered physiological parameters, thus indicating a good adaptation to water deficit. TwoS. l.var.cerasiformeaccessions showed an interesting performance under salt stress, one of which showing also good adaptation to water stress. In general, both stresses showed a negative impact on leaf size and fruit fresh weight, especially in the big-sized fruits. However, flowering, fruit setting and earliness remained unaltered or even improved when compared to control conditions. Stressed plants yielded fruits with higher degrees Brix. Response to stresses seemed to be linked to origin environmental conditions, notwithstanding, variability was observed among accessions of the same region.