Abstract:
The investigation assesses the influence of abiotic factors (heat/drought) on some biomorphological traits of
sporophyte and male gametophyte in the virus-free offspring from virus-infected tomato plants (Tobacco Mosaic Virus
or Tomato Aspermy Virus). The variance analysis of the evaluated traits, in both sporophyte and gametophyte, under
abiotic stress conditions revealed, as a rule, a significant contribution of stress in the variability, followed by the effects
of genotype and plant health status with different strength. The analysis confirmed the significant influence of genotype
(5.6...19.7%), heat (21.7...81.5%), drought (55.4...82.1%), health status (2.9…36.8%), and their interactions on the
variability of male gametophyte traits. In most cases, the influence of stresses caused suppression of the evaluated traits'
values. Under conditions of heat or drought, depending on plant’ health status, it was confirmed the specific
manifestation of some traits in sprout (radicle length, growth intensity), plant (plant height, number and leaves length)
and male gametophyte (pollen viability, pollen tube length). Thus, specific effects expressed by stimulation, inhibition
or lack of differences for the analysed traits were observed in the offspring of virus-infected plants under heat or
drought conditions compared to the optimal one. Analysis of pollen variability spectra for each genotype showed
differences in sensitivity to the action of the factors, which allows description of the microgamete reaction to stress and
application of the obtained data for predicting sporophyte resistance.
