Abstract
It is already known that there are many factors responsible for the successful grafting process in plants, including light intensity. However, the influence of the spectrum of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on this process has almost never been tested. During the pre-grafting process tomato seedlings grew for 30 days under 100 μmol m-2 s-1 of mixed LEDs (red 70%+ blue 30%). During the post-grafting period, seedlings grew for 20 days under the same light intensity but the lightening source was either red LED, mixed LEDs (red 70% + blue 30%), blue LED or white fluorescent lamps. This was done to determine which light source(s) could better improve seedling quality and increase grafting success. Our results showed that application of red and blue light mixture (R7:B3) caused significant increase in total leaf area, dry weight (total, shoot and root), total chlorophyll/carotenoid ratio, soluble protein and sugar content. Moreover, this light treatment maintained better photosynthetic performance i.e. more effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry Y(II), better photochemical quenching (qP), and higher electron transport rate (ETR). This can be partially explained by the observed upregulation of gene expression levels of PsaA and PsbA and the parallel protein expression levels. This in turn could lead to better functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus of tomato seedlings and then to faster production of photoassimilate ready to be translocated to various tissues and organs, including those most in need, i.e., involved in the formation of the graft union.
Highlights
Vegetable grafting is a popular method used to improve plant health against biotic and abiotic factors and has been implemented in many countries [1, 2]
The seeds were planted for 30 days before grafting under (100 μmol m-2 s-1, ratio of red: blue light was R7:B3) which were chosen as the best light-emitting diodes (LEDs) light source in our previous research [43, 44], the seedlings were grafted and put under the treatments of this study
The shoot length was significantly highest under R treatment, while the lowest shoot length was observed under WFL
Summary
Vegetable grafting is a popular method used to improve plant health against biotic and abiotic factors and has been implemented in many countries [1, 2]. Consolidating morpho-physiological performance specific environmental conditions during the process (matrix healing and acclimatization), and proper acclimatization is crucial for plants grafted for survival [3]. To ensure the proper healing and acclimatization of the union matrix, it is imperative to control the grafted plants’ micro-climate. Controlling the environmental conditions during grafting of plants is very difficult under normal conditions, many countries e.g., such as China, Japan, and Korea, have developed the acclimatization chambers for the better growth of the union matrix for successful grafting of vegetables. Some researchers have reported fast growth, good survival ratio, and remarkable quality of seedlings grown in healing and acclimatization chambers [6,7,8,9,10]
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