Quantifying Intergenerational Plasticity in Tomato: Temporal Divergence as a Cost-Effective Survival Strategy Against Drought Following Parental Ultrasound Priming

Understanding intra- and intergenerational adaptive strategies is essential for developing resilient crops. This study investigated these dynamics in Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Micro-Tom by subjecting parental plants to ultrasound priming and drought stress, followed by drought treatment in the progeny. We introduced the Intergenerational Plasticity Ratio (IPR) as a framework to quantify how stress-response strategies shift across generations. Our results reveal a divergence in adaptation: while parental plants prioritize immediate survival through morphological reductions, the progeny exhibit refined phenological shifts as a cost-effective mechanism. The results suggest that ultrasound may serve as a priming stimulus, preparing internal signaling pathways for heightened stress readiness. These phenotypic shifts suggest that ultrasound-based priming could be explored as a potential non-chemical approach to influence crop resilience. This may allow plants to exhibit adaptive developmental timing in response to specific stressors; however, further research is needed to determine the scalability and stability of these effects across different environments.