Amylolytic Activity and Carbohydrate Levels During the Stamen Ontogeny of a Male Fertile, and a 'Gibberellin-Sensitive' Male Sterile Mutant of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)

The activity of amylases, and the level of starch and solublesugar content were analysed in the normal (+/+), a ‘gibberellin-sensitive’male sterile stamenless-2 (sl-2/sl-2) mutant, and GA³-revertedsl-2/sl-2 mutant stamens of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentumMill.), at various stages of development. In the mutant stamens,amylolytic activity did not differ from that of the normal untilthe tetrad stage, but thereafter it was significantly lowerthan that of normal stamens. The starch content also did notdiffer in the two lines at early stages of development. However,at later stages it decreased in normal stamens, whereas it remainedunchanged in the mutant. The soluble sugar content graduallyincreased during the development of normal stamens. But in mutantstamens, it remained the same throughout development and wassignificantly lower than the normal. In GA₃-reverted mutantstamens, the amylolytic activity and the level of starch andsoluble sugars were comparable to normal stamens. It is proposedthat the sl-2/sl-2 mutation, through its effects on endogenousgibberellins, affects the activity of amylases which, in turn,result in lower sugar levels leading ultimately to abnormalpollen development. Key words: Amylases, male-sterility, tomato