Abstract
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important crops worldwide as per its production and the surface cultivated. The use of biostimulant products plays a fundamental role in mitigating the negative effects of climate change and reducing the use of conventional fertilizers. Many of these products are formulated with amino acids (AAs). This study was conducted to elucidate the effects of the foliar application of tyrosine (Tyr) (15 mM), lysine (Lys) (15 mM), methionine (Met) (15 mM), and a Tyr + Lys + Met (15 mM + 15 mM + 15 mM) mixture on the physiological and metabolic processes, vegetative growth, and nutritional state of Optima variety tomato plants. The results showed that application of the AAs, individually and combined, was beneficial for the growth of the aerial part, net assimilation of CO2, and water use efficiency (WUE). Application of Tyr resulted in the best WUE. The metabolomics study revealed that AA treatments increased the concentration of proline, fructose, and glucose, whose role was to stimulate glycolysis and the Krebs cycle. Thus, the plants could have greater reduction power and energy, as well as more carbon molecules for their growth processes.
Highlights
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important crops worldwide on the economic and social level [1]
Our metabolic study indicated that greater vegetative growth of the plants treated with amino acids (AAs) could be due to (i) increased proline concentration in the plants, which is an AA related to the processes of osmotic adjustment and protection against adverse environmental factors; (ii) the greater increase in assimilation rate of CO2 (ACO2) rate, promoting additional carbon in the shape of fructose and glucose, which are destined towards the processes of glycolysis and the Krebs cycle to obtain a greater reducing power and energy, as well as more C molecules needed for treated with AAs
Foliar applications of Tyr, Lys, and Met at concentrations of 15 mM had beneficial effects on tomato plants, as an increase in vegetative growth was observed compared to the control plants
Summary
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important crops worldwide on the economic and social level [1]. This is said to be the general trend in the coming years; it is necessary to increase the production and yield of many crops to feed the world’s population in environmental conditions that are increasingly more unfavorable for cultivation [4,5] This must be accomplished together with a greater awareness and respect for sustainability and the environment, referring to uncontrolled irrigation and use of harmful fertilizers [5,6]. Researchers and agriculture companies are planning studies to gain new scientific knowledge for developing sustainable crop growing strategies that are respectful of the environment Some of these strategies are based on the application of biostimulant products [7], whose use has been observed to significantly increase crop yields due to the stimulation and improvement in physiological and metabolic processes of plants under conditions of soil and climate stress [8]
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