Abstract
The cultivation of nutritionally and economically important crops like tomato are often threatened by dry spells due to drought as these crops largely depend on an assured water supply. The magnitude and intensity of drought is predicted to intensify under climate change scenarios, particularly in semi-arid regions, where water is already a scarce resource. Hence, it is imperative to devise strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of drought on tomato through improvement in the plant’s efficiency to utilise the moisture in the growth medium. Since the root is the entry point for water, its intrinsic structure and functions play a crucial role in maintaining the soil–water–plant continuum during moisture deficit at the rhizosphere. Grafting offers a great opportunity to replace the root system of the cultivated tomato plants with that of wild species and hence provide a rapid solution to modulate root system architecture in contrast to the time-consuming conventional breeding approach. However, the success in developing the best graft combination of cultivated tomato and rootstock depends on the source of rootstock and selection methods. In this study, we used a high throughput phenomics facility to assess the efficiency of tomato, grafted on the rootstocks of different genetic backgrounds, at different levels of moisture in the soil. Rootstocks included tomato cultivars and the hybrids, derived from the crosses involving wild relatives, as donor parents. Among the rootstocks, an interspecific (Solanum lycopersicum × S. pennellii) derivative RF4A was highly efficient in terms of productive use of water. The RF4A rootstock-grafted plants were more conservative in water use with higher plant water status through relatively better stomatal regulation and hence were more efficient in generating greater biomass under water stress conditions. These plants could maintain a higher level of PSII efficiency, signifying better photosynthetic efficiency even under water stress. The distinct response of interspecific rootstock, RF4A, to water stress can be ascribed to the effective root system acquired from a wild parent (S. pennellii), and hence efficient water uptake. Overall, we demonstrated the efficient use of a phenomics platform and developed a protocol to identify promising rootstock–scion combinations of tomato for optimization of water use.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
RF4A was highly efficient in productive water use among rootstocks.
- Taxon
- Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum lycopersicume0 - Material
- RF4Ae0
- Outcome
- productive use of watere0
- Direction
- highly efficiente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Among the rootstocks, an interspecific (Solanum lycopersicum × S. pennellii) derivative RF4A was highly efficient in terms of productive use of water.”
Claim · model-written summary
RF4A-grafted plants used water more conservatively and maintained higher water status under stress.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Material
- RF4Ae0
- Treatment
- RF4A rootstock-graftede0
- Outcome
- water use with higher plant water statuse0
- Direction
- more conservativee0
- Qualifier
- under water stress conditionse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The RF4A rootstock-grafted plants were more conservative in water use with higher plant water status through relatively better stomatal regulation and hence were more efficient in generating greater biomass under water stress conditions.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
RF4A-grafted plants had better stomatal regulation under water stress.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Material
- RF4Ae1
- Treatment
- RF4A rootstock-graftede1
- Outcome
- stomatal regulatione0
- Direction
- bettere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“through relatively better stomatal regulation and hence were more efficient in generating greater biomass under water stress conditions.”
e1“The RF4A rootstock-grafted plants”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
RF4A-grafted plants generated greater biomass under water stress.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Material
- RF4Ae1
- Treatment
- RF4A rootstock-graftede1
- Outcome
- biomasse0
- Direction
- greatere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“more efficient in generating greater biomass under water stress conditions.”
e1“The RF4A rootstock-grafted plants”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
RF4A-grafted plants maintained higher PSII efficiency under water stress.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Material
- RF4Ae1
- Treatment
- RF4A rootstock-graftede1
- Outcome
- PSII efficiencye0
- Direction
- highere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“These plants could maintain a higher level of PSII efficiency, signifying better photosynthetic efficiency even under water stress.”
e1“The RF4A rootstock-grafted plants”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Authors attributed the RF4A drought response to an effective root system acquired from S. pennellii and efficient water uptake.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Material
- RF4Ae0
- Organ / stage
- root systeme0
- Outcome
- efficient water uptakee0
- Qualifier
- effective root system acquired from a wild parent (S. pennellii)e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The distinct response of interspecific rootstock, RF4A, to water stress can be ascribed to the effective root system acquired from a wild parent (S. pennellii), and hence efficient water uptake.”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The phenomics protocol identified promising tomato rootstock–scion combinations for water-use optimization.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Outcome
- identify promising rootstock–scion combinations of tomatoe0
Not reportedComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“we demonstrated the efficient use of a phenomics platform and developed a protocol to identify promising rootstock–scion combinations of tomato for optimization of water use.”
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See all 83 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.