A different way to grow tomatoes
17:29 1st December 2008
According to greenhousegrowing.co.uk, UK gardeners can grow all manner of fruit and veg in their greenhouses.
Lemons, grapes, strawberries and peaches are just some of the things gardeners choose to fill their greenhouses with.
Another is tomatoes - but scientists in Verona, Italy, have discovered a new way of growing the fruit without the use of pollination or fertilisation.
Instead, Verona University and Experimental Research Council (CRA) scientists have been working on a theory that suppressing the growth control gene auxin allows tomatoes to grow without using the traditional methods.
Auxin is the gene that controls the plant's reaction to light and gravity and suppressing it has allowed the scientists to grow seedless tomatoes.
CRA horticultural scientist Giuseppe Leonardo Rotini, explained to Italy Mag that the technique could open up new possibilities in the horticulture world.
''Parthenocarpy is greatly appreciated in horticulture because it allows the production of fruit even in environments that are unfavourable for pollination, and because the absence of seeds can improve the quality of the fruit,'' he told the website.
