In general, the pollen of the three tomato genotypes under study showed similar responses to the high temperature concerning the increase of phenolic content in pollen grains . Under stress conditions plants mount a broad range of defense mechanisms including the rapid and transient generation of reactive oxygen species (Bolwell, Vojtaszek, 1977) . This oxidative burst has been suggested to be a trigger of stress responses in plants (Low and Merida 1996) . To avoid oxygen mediated toxicity the scavenging of reactive oxygen species by some phenolics, especially flavonoids, is critical as they may act as endogenous antioxidants because of their radical scavenging ability (Castellucio et al . , 1995, Yamasaki, 1997) . It is well documented that heat stress results in the production of both superoxide anions and hydrogen peroxide indicating that the heat treated plants underwent an oxidative burst (Vallerian - Bindschedler et al . , 1998) . In addition, heat treatment of plants is associated with the accumulation of phenolic compounds in their leaves (Ferraris et al . , 1987) . It can be accepted that the observed increase of the percentage of pollen grains containing phenolic compounds is a response reaction of tomato pollen to the heat stress . However, the enhancement of the different classes of phenolic compounds in tomato pollen after heat stress did not correlate with the thermotolerance of the sporophyte uniformly . Literature Cited: Bolwell, G . P . , P . wojtaszek, Physiol . Mol . Plant Pathol . , 1997,51, 347 - 366 Castellucio at al . FEBS :leet 1995    368, 188 - 192) . Ciampolini, F . M . Cresti . Bot . Acta, 1991, 104 . 110 - 116 Edreva, A . Biotechnol . & Biotechnol . Eq . , 1996, 10, 106 - 113 Feder, N . , T . P . O'Brein . Am . J . Bot . , 1968, 55, 123 - 142 Ferraris, L . et al . J . Plant Disease Protect . , 1987, 94, 624 - 629 Gahan, P . B . Plant Histochemistry . A>P>, 1984, New York Georgieva, I . D . et al . C . R . Acad . Bulg . Sci . , 1998, 51, 117 - 120 Hauserman, M . , P . Waltz . Tabakforsch . , 1962, 1, 275 - 284 Heslop - Harrison, J . et al . TAG, 1984, 64, 367 - 375 Lees, G . L . et al . Can . J . Bot . , 1993, 71, 1147 - 1152 Low . P . S . , J . R . Merida . Physiol . Plant . , 1996,96, 533 - 542 Mace, M . R . Physiol . Plant . , 1963, 16, 915 - 925 Mascarenhas, J . P . Sex . Plant Reprod . , 1996, 9, 370 - 374 Tanaka, I . J . Plant Res . , 1993, 106, 55 - 63 Vallerian - Bundschedler, L . et al . Physiol . Mol . Plant Pathol . , 1998, 52, 185 - 199 Wollenweber, E . M . et al . Bot . Acta, 1992, 105, 227 - 242 Yamasaki, H . Trends Plant Sci . , 1997, 2, 7 - 8 Ziska, L . H . , P . A . Manalo . Aust . J . Plant Physiol . , 1996, 23, 791 - 794   Figure 1, next page