Chlorophyll Fluorescence-Based High-Throughput Phenotyping Reveals Mechanisms and Enables Rapid Screening of Desiccation-Tolerant Wild Tomato Species

Desiccation tolerance is a critical adaptive trait that enables plants to survive extreme water loss, yet its physiological basis in tomato and its wild relatives remains poorly understood. In this study, chlorophyll a fluorescence imaging was used as a reliable tool to evaluate photosystem II (PSII) response to progressive desiccation. The analysis was conducted in cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and five wild relatives (Solanum chilense, Solanum habrochaites, Solanum peruvianum, Solanum pimpinellifolium, and Solanum pennellii). Detached leaves were subjected to controlled desiccation for up to 50 h. During this period, tissue moisture content (TMC), relative water content (RWC), PSII photochemical efficiency [Fv/Fm; maximum quantum yield (QY_max)], minimal fluorescence (F0), maximal fluorescence (Fm), and variable fluorescence (Fv) were monitored to assess changes in photosynthetic performance. Desiccation caused a significant, moisture-dependent decline in PSII efficiency across all species, with QY_max showing a strong linear relationship with RWC (R2 = 0.80–0.90). Interspecific variation was evident as S. chilense, S. habrochaites, S. peruvianum, and S. pimpinellifolium exhibited rapid PSII impairment, while S. lycopersicum showed moderate tolerance. In contrast, S. pennellii maintained higher PSII stability, with 50% loss of efficiency occurring only at lower RWC (30–35%). Overall, chlorophyll fluorescence imaging effectively captured functional diversity in desiccation tolerance, highlighting S. pennellii as a valuable genetic resource for improving drought resilience in tomato.