Artificial seed ageing
and DNA profiling with SSR markers
were used to study genetic integrity of tomato seeds during
ageing in storage. DNA profiles of microsattellite markers
showed that genetic changes occurred in artificially aged seeds
by the end of 72 h. Four of the SSR primers used in this study
optimized with all the tomato accessions and thus were recommended
for detecting seed ageing in gene bank storage.
Estimates of genetic integrity evaluated for the accessions
showed that seed quality in terms of longevity estimates (P50)
affected genetic integrity during storage: seeds of low P50
values having lower genetic integrity. Tomato seed physiological
correlate corresponding to the least percentage genetic