the extensive use of chemical fertilizers poses serious collateral problems such as environmental pollution, pest resistance development and food safety decline. Researches focused on applying plant-beneficial microorganisms to partially replace chemical fertilizer use is increasing due to the requirement of sustainable agriculture development. Thus to investigate the possibility of a plantbeneficial Trichoderma strain and its bio-organic fertilizer product in saving chemical fertilizer application and in improving crop quality, a field trial and continuous pot experiments were carried out with tomato. Four treatments were set up: a reduced application of chemical fertilizer (75% of the conventional application) plus Trichoderma-enriched bio-organic fertilizer (BF), organic fertilizer (OF) or Trichoderma spore suspension (SS), with using the 100% rate of the conventional chemical fertilizer as the control (CF). The results showed that the total soluble sugar, Vitamin C and nitrate accumulations were, respectively, +up to 24%, +up to 57% and-up to 62% in the tomatoes of the BF treatment compared to those of the control (CF). And both of the pot and field trials revealed that reduced rates of chemical fertilizer plus bio-organic fertilizer produced tomato yields equivalent to those obtained using the 100% of the chemical fertilizer. However, application with the inoculant alone (SS) or combined with the organic fertilizer alone (OF) would lead to a yield decreases of 6-38% and 9-35% over the control. Since the increased abundance of soil microflora and the enhanced soil fertility frequently showed positive linear correlations especially in the BF-treated soils, we conclude that the efficacy of this bioorganic fertilizer for maintaining a stable tomato yield and improving tomato quality may be due to the improved soil microbial activity. Thus, the results suggest that the Trichoderma bio-organic fertilizer could be employed in combination with the appropriate rates of chemical fertilizers to get maximum benefits regarding yield, quality and fertilizer savings.

BackgroundRed (R) and far-red (FR) light distinctly influence phytochrome-mediated initial tomato growth and development, and more recent evidence indicates that these spectra also modulate responses to a multitude of abiotic and biotic stresses. This research investigated whether different R: FR values affect tomato growth response and salinity tolerance. Tomato seedlings were exposed to different R: FR conditions (7.4, 1.2 and 0.8) under salinity stress (100 mM NaCl), and evaluated for their growth, biochemical changes, active reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ROS scavenging enzymes, pigments, rate of photosynthesis, and chlorophyll fluorescence.ResultsThe results showed that under conditions of salinity, tomato seedlings subjected to a lower R: FR value (0.8) significantly increased both their growth, proline content, chlorophyll content and net photosynthesis rate (Pn), while they decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) compared to the higher R: FR value (7.4). Under conditions of salinity, the lower R: FR value caused a decrease in both the superoxide anion (O2•−) and in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generation, an increase in the activities of superoxidase dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), peroxidase (POD, EC 1.11.1.7) and catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.7). Tomato seedlings grown under the lower R: FR value and conditions of salinity showed a higher actual quantum yield of photosynthesis (ΦPSII), electron transport rate (ETR), and photochemical quenching (qP) than those exposed to a higher R: FR, indicating overall healthier growth. However, the salinity tolerance induced at the lower R: FR condition disappeared in the tomato phyB1 mutant.ConlusionThese results suggest that growing tomato with a lower R: FR value could improve seedlings’ salinity tolerance, and phytochrome B1 play an very important role in this process. Therefore, different qualities of light can be used to efficiently develop abiotic stress tolerance in tomato cultivation.

Salinity-alkalinity stress has caused severe environment problems that negatively impact the growth and development of watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus L.). In this study, watermelon seedlings were inoculated with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) Funneliformis mosseae to investigate its effect on watermelon growth and development. The main measurements included morphological traits, elemental and water uptake, the level of reactive oxygen species, antioxidant enzyme and photosynthesis activities, and relative expression levels of stress response genes. Under salinity-alkalinity stresses, watermelon morphological traits, elemental and water uptake were all significantly alleviated after incubation with AMF. Antioxidant abilities of watermelon were significantly improved after incubation with AMF in salinity-alkalinity stresses. Under normal conditions, all photosynthesis related parameters were significantly increased after incubation of AMF. In contrast, they were all significantly reduced under salinity-alkalinity stresses and were all significantly alleviated after incubation of AMF. Salinity-alkalinity stresses impacted the chloroplast structure and AMF significantly alleviated these damages. Under salinity-alkalinity stresses, the relative expression level of RBCL was significantly reduced and was significantly alleviated after AMF treatment. The relative expression level of PPH was significantly increased and was further significantly reduced after AMF treatment. For the relative expression levels of antioxidant response related genes Cu-Zn SOD, CAT, APX, GR , their relative expression levels were significantly increased and were further significantly increased after AMF treatment. Our study demonstrated the beneficial effects of AMF under salinity-alkalinity stresses, which could be implicated in the management of watermelon cultivation under salinity-alkalinity regions.

Compact and healthy young plants increase crop production and improve vegetable quality. Adverse climatic conditions and shading can cause young plants to become elongated and spindly. We investigated the effects of night break (NB) treatments on tomato plants using red light (RL) with an intensity of 20 μmol·m2·s−1. Tomato plants were subjected to NB treatments with different frequencies ranging from every 1, 2, 3, and 4 h, and plant growth, flowering, and yield were monitored. The results showed that with the increase of RL NB frequency, plant height decreased, stem diameter increased, and flower initiation delayed, the content of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and gibberellin 3 (GA3) in the leaf and stem declined. When the RL NB frequency was every 1 h, the heights of tomato plant decreased by 32.73% compared with the control, the diameter of tomato plants increased by 27.09% compared with the control, the number of leaves produced before flowering increased to 11, compared with 8 in the control, the contents of IAA and GA3 in the leaf decreased by 33.3 and 41.29% respectively compared with the control, the contents of IAA and GA3 in the stem decreased by 56.04 and 57.14% respectively compared with the control. After RL NB treatments, tomato plants were transplanted into a solar greenhouse to evaluate tomato yield. When tomato plants pre-treated with RL NB, per tomato fresh weight of the first spica increased with the increase of RL NB frequencies. These results indicate that more compact and healthier tomato plants could be gotten by RL NB treatments and improve tomato early yield.

BackgroundPhytochromes are dimeric proteins with critical roles in perceiving day length and the environmental signals that trigger flowering. Night break (NB) and the red to far-red light ratio (R:FR) have been used extensively as tools to study the photoperiodic control of flowering. However, at the molecular level, little is known about the effect of NB and different R:FR values on flowering in day-neutral plants (DNPs) such as tomato.ResultsHere, we show that tomato SP5G, SP5G2, and SP5G3 are homologs of Arabidopsis thaliana FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) that repress flowering in Nicotiana benthamiana. NB every 2 h at intensities of 10 μmol m− 2 s− 1 or lower R:FR (e.g., 0.6) caused a clear delay in tomato flowering and promoted SP5G mRNA expression. The promoted SP5G mRNA expression induced by red light NB and low R:FR treatments was reversed by a subsequent FR light stimulus or a higher R:FR treatment. The tomato phyB1 mutation abolished the effects of NB and lower R:FR treatments on flowering and SP5G mRNA expression, indicating that the effects were mediated by phytochrome B1 in tomato.ConclusionOur results strongly suggest that SP5G mRNA suppression is the principal cause of NB and lower R:FR effects on flowering in tomato.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-018-1380-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Photoperiod is a crucial inducer of plant flowering. Cycling DOF factors (CDFs) play pivotal roles in the flowering of long-day (LD) and short-day (SD) plants. However, the functions of CDFs in the photoperiod regulated flowering remain unclear in day-neutral plants. In the present study, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. “Ailsa Craig”) seedlings of the wild-type and transgenic lines of overexpressing CDFs were treated with different photoperiods. The flowering time and the expression pattern of SlCDFs and other FT-like genes were investigated. The results showed that tomato SlCDF1, SlCDF2, SlCDF3, SlCDF4, and SlCDF5 are homologs to Arabidopsis cycling DOF factor 1 (AtCDF1). SlCDF1–5 expression levels were influenced by the developmental stage and the tissue location, and notably, the expression patterns throughout light environments showed two opposite trends. Among the SlCDF1–5 overexpression transgenic lines, overexpressing SlCDF3 delayed flowering time in both LD (16 h light/8 h dark) and SD (8 h light/16 h dark) conditions. Furthermore, SlCDF3 led to an increase in the mRNA level of SlSP5G, a tomato FT-like gene, in LD conditions, while the transcription level of the other two FT-like genes, SlSP5G2 and SlSP5G3, were up-regulated in SD conditions. Taken together, at the transcription level, our results demonstrated that SlCDF3 played a significant role in controlling tomato flowering under LD and SD conditions, possibly through directly or indirectly regulating FT-like genes.

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