RNA-Seq of Solanum lycopersicum pistils under acute heat stress: Heat tolerant varieties and Heinz control

High temperatures during flowering and pollination can result in significant fruit losses, because of heat sensitivity of pollen tube growth. Different tomato varieties show significant differences in heat sensitivity of pollen tube growth. Making use of naturally stress tolerant occurring varieties, this project seeks to identify the molecular basis of adaptations that mitigate the yield-damaging consequences of heat stress during crop reproduction. Here, we investigate the gene expression of pistils of 2 heat tolerant tomato varieties as well as the Heinz reference variety as a control. The varieties, nagcarlang and malintka have shown improved thermotolerance to acute heat stresses. We explore the gene expression profiles of these plants over an 8 hour time course during pollination.