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Pruning length of lateral branches affects tomato growth and yields in relation to auxin-cytokinin crosstalt

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Abstract

Lateral branches (LBs) pruning is performed frequently to keep the tomato plants in optimal growth conditions. However, the suitable pruning length of LBs, as well as the physiological and molecular mechanisms of pruning length on plant growth regulation remains elusive in tomato. The effects of pruning length of LBs from 0 to 20 cm on vegetative growth, reproductive growth, labor costs, hormone metabolism and genes transcripts were evaluated in an indeterminate type tomato cultivar. By comprehensive analysis, we provided evidence that pruning length of LBs at about 6–7 cm was suitable for plant growth, high yield, and low labor costs in tomato production. For mechanisms, appropriate extension of pruning length of LBs increased indole acetic acid (IAA) concentrations in root, which promoted the biosynthesis and upward transport of inactive cytokinins (CKs), as well as root development. Meanwhile, existence of LBs inhibited the auxin outflow of the lower flower stalks by regulating transcripts of AUX1 and PIN. Then, the enhanced concentrations of IAA and CKs in ovary could promote fruit swelling. Additionally, pruning length of LBs also influenced the leaf senescence to control photosynthesis. Taken together, we highlight that pruning length of LBs influence auxin and cytokinins homeostasis in relation to growth and yield in tomato plants.

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Acknowledgements

The National Natural Science Foundation of China [31872943]; the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China [ZR2019MC067]; the Shandong Province Modern Agricultural Technology System [SDAIT-05-05]; the Key Research and Development Program of Shandong Province [2017GNC13104].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology; Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops in Huanghuai Region, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Xu, Xuelian Liu, Qinghua Shi & Biao Gong

  2. College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, 271018, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Xu, Xuelian Liu, Qinghua Shi & Biao Gong

  3. Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266000, People’s Republic of China

    Fei Cheng

  4. Shandong Province Seeds Group Co., Ltd, Jinan, 250100, People’s Republic of China

    Lili Zhang & Changyong Shao

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  1. Yang Xu
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  2. Xuelian Liu
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  3. Qinghua Shi
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  4. Fei Cheng
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  5. Lili Zhang
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  6. Changyong Shao
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  7. Biao Gong
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Contributions

BG conceived of and designed the study. XY and XL conducted the experiments. FC performed qRT-PCR analysis. LZ and CS performed data analysis. BG wrote the manuscript. QS supervised and complemented the writing. All authors have read and approved this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Biao Gong.

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Xu, Y., Liu, X., Shi, Q. et al. Pruning length of lateral branches affects tomato growth and yields in relation to auxin-cytokinin crosstalt. Plant Growth Regul 92, 1–13 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-020-00615-2

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