Fruit cracking is an important problem in horticultural crop production. Polygalacturonase (SlPG) and expansin (SlEXP1) proteins cooperatively disassemble the polysaccharide network of tomato fruit cell walls during ripening and thereby, enable softening. A Golden 2-like (GLK2) transcription factor, SlGLK2 regulates unripe fruit chloroplast development and results in elevated soluble solids and carotenoids in ripe fruit. To determine whether SlPG, SlEXP1, or SlGLK2 influence the rate of tomato fruit cracking, the incidence of fruit epidermal cracking was compared between wild-type, Ailsa Craig (WT) and fruit with suppressed SlPG and SlEXP1 expression (pg/exp) or expressing a truncated nonfunctional Slglk2 (glk2). Treating plants with exogenous ABA increases xylemic flow into fruit. Our results showed that ABA treatment of tomato plants greatly increased cracking of fruit from WT and glk2 mutant, but not from pg/exp genotypes. The pg/exp fruit were firmer, had higher total soluble solids, denser cell walls and thicker cuticles than fruit of the other genotypes. Fruit from the ABA treated pg/exp fruit had cell walls with less water-soluble and more ionically and covalently-bound pectins than fruit from the other lines, demonstrating that ripening-related disassembly of the fruit cell wall, but not elimination of SlGLK2, influences cracking. Cracking incidence was significantly correlated with cell wall and wax thickness, and the content of cell wall protopectin and cellulose, but not with Ca2+ content.

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We aimed to evaluate the effects of climatic elements on potato yield and create a model with climatic elements for estimating the potato yield, using the results of the regional adjustment tests of potato. We used 86 data of the yield data of a potato variety, Sumi, from 17 regions over 11 years. According to the results, the climatic elements showed significant level of correlation coefficient with marketable yield appeared to be almost every climatic elements except wind velocity, which was daily average air temperature (Tave), daily minimum air temperature (Tmin), daily maximum air temperature(Tmax), daily range of air temperature (Tm-m), precipitation (Prec.), relative humidity (R.H.), sunshine hours (S.H.) and days of rain over 0.1 mm (D.R.) depending on the periods of days after planting or before harvest. The correlations between these climatic elements and marketable yield of potato were stepwised using SAS, statistical program, and we selected a model to predict the yield of marketable potato, which was y = 7.820×Tmax_1 -6.315×Prec_4 + 128.214×DR_8 + 91.762×DR_3 + 643.965. The correlation coefficient between the yield derived from the model and the real yield of marketable yield was 0.588 (DF 85).