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