Heat-induced proteomes in tomato pollen mother cells

Tomato pollen production and viability is highly vulnerable to higher temperature. Hot summers with temperature reaching above 32°C can disrupt production of viable pollens and fruit set, resulting in yield loss. In recent years, temperature above 35-38oC has become a norm during mid-summer with potential adverse impacts on the production of tomatoes and many other crop species. Pollens are developed through the microsporogenesis and micro-gametogenesis stages. The most heat sensitive period is from the meiotic process of the microsporocytes, at the young microspore stage (uninucleate stage of microspore) to during late pollen development (pollen mitosis). This project studied the heat-induced proteomes in microsporocyte, also called pollen mother cells (PMC). Homogenous PMC samples were collected from cross-sectioned frozen fresh anther tissues of tomato ‘Maxifort’ using laser capture microdissection (LCM). Tandem mass tag (TMT) proteomics analysis was conducted to identify proteomics changes related to heat tolerance during pollen development.