Identificarea relațiilor dintre parametrii ce contribuie la diferențierea răspunsului tomatelor la deficit hidric

The study aims to analyze the conventionally associated reactions between different quantitative indices in the formation of the plant's response to drought (PEG 6000) in tomato sprouts. The results indicate a moderate positive correlation between PEG6000 concentration (0, 10, 12%) and seed germination rate in 10 genotypes. A significant decrease in seedling and radicle length (18-67%) was observed under stress conditions, with a stimulation of lateral and adventitious radicle formation. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for 9 quantitative indicators in 5 tomato genotypes identified that the first three principal components explain 82.3% of the variability, presenting combinations of traits with diametrically opposite effects, some increasing the variance of the data field and others, on the contrary, decreasing it, thus differentiating the genotypes in the coordinate plane based on their response to optimal conditions or stress as determined by the principal components. This fact allows us to highlight the indicators that are relevant in estimating the genotype's reaction to stress.