Search Results
Abstract
Gibberellic acid (GA3) applied to pre-floral tomato plants stimulated a significant increase in the number of ‘carpels’ and locules per ovary. In ‘Vantage’ the number of locules was doubled by this treatment whereas in ‘Viceroy’ a 30% increase was obtained. The styles of treated flowers were thicker and contained more vascular bundles than did those of untreated flowers. Ovary size of treated flowers at anthesis was also increased by this treatment. The significance of chemical manipulation of locule number in tomato ovaries and the possible mode of action of GA3 in this system is discussed.
Abstract
Application of gibberellic acid (GA3) to nonflowering plants of tomato induced multilocular, multicarpellary ovaries. These multilocular ovaries, which were larger at anthesis than nontreated controls, upon pollination produced fruits which were significantly larger both in size and in fresh wt. At least 50% increase in both size and wt was noted in 2 cultivars.