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: whil