Patent ID: 7084320

Claim:
A method for determining in vitro the agronomical fitness of a plant line comprising the steps of: a) culturing a population of explants of said plant line; b) incubating a first part of said population of cultured explants in a buffer solution; c) incubating a second part of said population of cultured explants in said buffer solution, further comprising a salicylic acid derivative capable of generating oxidative stress in plant cells incubated in a solution of said salicylic acid derivative, in a concentration of 5 mg/L to 50 mg/L; d) measuring the electron flow in the mitochondrial electron transport chain in said first and second part of the population; wherein the agronomically fit plants have a lower electron flow in the mitochondrial electron transport chain when assayed under conditions comprising the stress with the salicylic acid derivative then when assayed under control conditions without such imposed stress.