Transcriptome, Biochemical and Phenotypic Analysis of the Effects of a Precision Engineered Biostimulant for Inducing Salinity Stress Tolerance in Tomato

Salinity stress is a major problem affecting plant growth and crop productivity. While plant biostimulants have been reported to be an effective solution to tackle salinity stress in different crops, the key genes and metabolic pathways involved in these tolerance processes remain unclear. This stud...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2023-04, Vol.24 (8), p.6988
Main Authors: Ikuyinminu, Elomofe, Goñi, Oscar, Łangowski, Łukasz, O'Connell, Shane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Ascophyllum nodosum extract
Chlorophyll
Crop yields
ion homeostasis
irrigation salinity stress
osmotic adjustment
Photosynthesis
plant biostimulants
protein hydrolysate
Salinity
Salt Stress
Solanum lycopersicum - genetics
Transcriptome
Water - metabolism
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Summary:Salinity stress is a major problem affecting plant growth and crop productivity. While plant biostimulants have been reported to be an effective solution to tackle salinity stress in different crops, the key genes and metabolic pathways involved in these tolerance processes remain unclear. This study focused on integrating phenotypic, physiological, biochemical and transcriptome data obtained from different tissues of L. plants (cv. Micro-Tom) subjected to a saline irrigation water program for 61 days (EC: 5.8 dS/m) and treated with a combination of protein hydrolysate and -derived biostimulant, namely PSI-475. The biostimulant application was associated with the maintenance of higher K /Na ratios in both young leaf and root tissue and the overexpression of transporter genes related to ion homeostasis (e.g., , ). A more efficient osmotic adjustment was characterized by a significant increase in relative water content (RWC), which most likely was associated with osmolyte accumulation and upregulation of genes related to aquaporins (e.g., , ). A higher content of photosynthetic pigments (+19.8% to +27.5%), increased expression of genes involved in photosynthetic efficiency and chlorophyll biosynthesis (e.g., , ) and enhanced primary carbon and nitrogen metabolic mechanisms were observed, leading to a higher fruit yield and fruit number (47.5% and 32.5%, respectively). Overall, it can be concluded that the precision engineered PSI-475 biostimulant can provide long-term protective effects on salinity stressed tomato plants through a well-defined mode of action in different plant tissues.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms24086988