About the Research

Dr. Kim’s lab is investigating the low temperature resilience traits in tomato plants. Cultivated tomatoes need a lot of heating energy since they are vulnerable to low nighttime temperatures, especially during cold seasons in controlled environment agriculture systems. On the contrary, wild tomato accessions can endure low temperatures and arid conditions.

Dr. Kim's lab is using the introgressed lines between the wild accession Solanum pennellii and the cultivated tomato S. lycopersicum cv. M82 (M82) to identify the long-lost chilling tolerance traits. The following criteria are used for screening: 1) Under the threshold overnight temperatures, both parental and IL lines sustain the vitality and growth during the developing period. 2) Under low nighttime temperatures, the candidate IL lines should grow similarly to the M82 parent line under warm nighttime conditions. 3) Under warm nighttime temperatures, candidate IL line yields should be comparable to those of the M82 parent lines. Finally, newly found loci will be incorporated into domesticated tomatoes to increase energy efficiency and provide climate friendly controlled environment agriculture.