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Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol 49, 49-57, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press

ARTICLES

High mineral contents explain the low construction cost of leaves, stems and fruits of tomato plants

C Gary, N Bertin, J Frossard and J Le Bot
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unite de Bioclimatologie, Domain St-Paul, Site Agroparc, F-84914 Avignon Cedex 9, France; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unite Associee Bioclimatologie-PIAF, Site de Crouel, 234 avenue de Brezet, F-63039 Clermont-Ferrand Cedex 2, France; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unite de Recherches en Ecophysiologie et Horticulture, Domaine St-Paul, Site Agroparc, F-84914 Avignon Cedex 9, France; Corresponding author e-mail: gary@avignon.inra.fr

The construction cost of plant tissues is used in crop models to convert the products of photosynthesis into biomass. As for other greenhouse crops, tomato tissues are specific in that they have a high mineral content. The consequences of this accumulation of minerals on the construction cost of the tissues and the possible interactions with the physiological age of the organs and with the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere was examined. For that purpose, three methods of estimating the construction cost were used and compared. Large quantities of minerals accumulated in the tissues of tomato plants (ranging from 0.05 in fruits to 0.26 g g-1 DM in leaves). The subsequent dilution of the organic matter explained why the estimated construction cost of the dry matter (organic matter + minerals) was fairly low in comparison to that of other crops species. The construction cost was higher in fruits than in vegetative organs, partly because of a lower mineral content. It decreased by 7-12% from top to bottom of the canopy, following the increase in the physiological age of the tissues. This ontogenic drift was partly explained by the accumulation of minerals in the older organs. In the conditions of CO2 enrichment of a commercial greenhouse, no effect of CO2 concentration on the mineral content and on the construction cost of tissues was observed. Such a variability of the construction cost of tomato plant tissues due to the accumulation of minerals or to the ontogeny questions the use of standard values in crop models.Key words: Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., construction cost, heat of combustion, elemental composition, mineral content.
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