How does grafting affect the ionome of cherry tomato plants under water stress?

Abstract

The response of grafted vegetables to stress conditions owing to the nutrient status may be different than that of self-rooted plants, depending mainly on the rootstock genotype. The aim of the present work is to determine the response of reciprocal grafts made between cherry tomato cultivars (Solanum lycopersicum) to moderate water stress, examining uptake and concentration of nutrient. The tomato cultivars Zarina (drought-tolerant) and Josefina (drought-sensitive) were reciprocal grafted and selfgrafted, and ungrafted were used as control. The total content and uptake fluxes of macro-and micronutrients were determined in leaves. Our results show that the use of drought-tolerant cv. Zarina like rootstocks (ZarxJos) showed improve ionome, with increases in nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) concentration and uptake fluxes, and an increase in iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) concentration and uptake under water stress. Besides, the vigorous root system of rootstocks is often capable of absorbing plant nutrients more efficently than scion root, and we have showed that cv. Zarina and ZarxJos develop a better radicular system. This result confirms the hypothesis that grafted plants on vigorous rootstocks can improve mineral nutrition and nutrient uptake with respect to ungrafted plants, especially under water stress conditions.

Nitrate Transport Rate in the Xylem of Tomato Plants Grafted onto a Vigorous Rootstock

“…Several reports provide evidence that rootstocks increase NO 3 − uptake in tomato plants [2,6], but most studies have been conducted to test the effects under salinity stress conditions [7][8][9]. However, these studies do not address the concentration of NO 3 − in the xylem sap which has been shown to change in cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plants exposed to different root-zone temperatures [10], watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) plants grafted onto different rootstocks [11], or melon (Cucumis melo) plants grafted onto vigorous rootstocks [12].…”

Tomato grafting impacts on yield and fruit quality under water stress conditions

“…The method of grafting onto various vigorous rootstocks has been adopted to enhance yield production of many vegetable crops, including tomato, under water stress (Rouphael et al, 2008;Schwarz et al, 2010;Estévez-Caparrós et al, 2011;Sánchez-Rodríguez et al, 2014). However, the influence of water stress on the fruit quality of grafted tomato has not been fully explored.…”

“…Various studies have shown that irrigation at a stress level (e.g., 50% ETc) has beneficial effects on tomato quality in terms of total solid (TS), total soluble solid (TSS), and vitamin C (VC) levels (Alaoui et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2016). Irrigation regimes and grafting strategies are quite novel tools for improving water-stress tolerance and quality of tomato (Sánchez-Rodríguez et al, 2012;Sánchez-Rodríguez et al, 2014).…”

Grafted vegetables – the influence of rootstock and scion on postharvest quality

“…Until recently such problems were combated with soil fumigants such as methyl bromide, which has been banned; however, extensive efforts have been invested in searching for alternatives to fit into the new integrated pest management (IPM) systems (Louws et al 2010). Another important advantage of grafting is protection against abiotic stresses such as high/low temperatures, salinity , Sánchez-Rodríguez et al 2014, drought or excessive water soil content and elevated concentrations of heavymetal and organic pollutants in soils (Savvas et al 2010). Furthermore, grafting is very popular among farmers because it results in fruit yield increases and enhanced overall plant vigour.…”