Research report: Integrative systems analysis reveals heat-induced functional divergence in cultivated and wild tomato genotypes

Acute heat produced sharply different responses in a panel of cultivated and wild tomato genotypes, according to an integrative study that combined measurements of growth, membrane stability, pigment integrity, osmotic adjustment and antioxidant capacity. The researchers found that the most thermotolerant entries combined retained biomass and structural stability with complementary patterns of stress protection, indicating that resilience emerged from coordinated responses across several biological levels rather than from one measured trait alone. Researchers systematically quantified morphological, physiological and biochemical traits and integrated the results using the Stress Tolerance Index, Membership Function Value and correlation-network analysis.

Genotypes were exposed to acute thermal stress at 45 °C, allowing the study to compare how different genetic backgrounds reorganized their measured functions under the same treatment. Heat-induced divergence was pronounced across the panel. Sensitive accessions showed severe growth suppression, chlorophyll loss and elevated lipid peroxidation; S. chilense PI 251313 was cited as one example of this sensitive response.

In contrast, the commercial cultivar S. lycopersicum cv. İksir maintained biomass and structural stability. The wild accession S. pimpinellifolium PI 365957 showed a different profile, characterized by enhanced antioxidant coordination and membrane protection.

These observations demonstrate distinct responses among the tested genotypes rather than a single response shared equally by cultivated and wild material. Correlation analysis indicated that heat shifted the tomatoes’ regulatory emphasis from growth-centered regulation toward a tightly interconnected stress-response module. Proline, superoxide dismutase and catalase were strongly associated within that module.

Multivariate integration consistently ranked cv. İksir and S. pimpinellifolium PI 365957 as the most thermotolerant genotypes under the study’s 45 °C treatment, although the cultivated and wild entries achieved their rankings through different measured profiles. The findings position thermotolerance as an emergent systems property and identify wild tomato relatives as potential reservoirs of coordinated stress-adaptive traits for breeding climate-resilient cultivars.

The scope remains bounded by the defined genotype panel, the acute 45 °C treatment and the vegetative stage: the study does not establish how the same rankings would hold across all tomato genotypes, developmental phases or field environments. Its central result is therefore not that one accession is universally superior, but that cultivated and wild genetic backgrounds can preserve different combinations of measured functions under acute heat through complementary, systems-level responses.

Subject of Research: Heat-response strategies and thermotolerance in cultivated and wild tomato genotypes

Article Title: Integrative systems analysis reveals heat-induced functional divergence in cultivated and wild tomato genotypes

Article References: Şimsek, E., Yıldız, K., Çevik, S., & Akbudak, M. A. (2026). Integrative systems analysis reveals heat-induced functional divergence in cultivated and wild tomato genotypes. BMC Plant Biology, 26(1), Article 1818. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-026-09807-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12870-026-09807-w

Keywords: tomato, heat stress, thermotolerance, wild genotypes, antioxidant capacity, membrane stability, osmotic adjustment, stress-response networks, climate-resilient crops, plant breeding, Integrative, systems