Abstract
Salinity in soil or water is a serious threat to global agriculture; the expected acreage affected by salinity is about 20% of the global irrigated lands. Improving salt tolerance of plants through breeding is a complex undertaking due to the number of traits involved. Grafting, a surgical mean of joining a scion and rootstock of two different genotypes with the desired traits, offers an alternative to breeding and biotechnological approaches to salt tolerance. Grafting can also be used to circumvent other biotic and abiotic stresses. Increasing salinity tolerance in tomato (Solanum lycopresicum L.), a highly nutritious and economical vegetable, will have greater impact on the vegetable industry, especially in (semi) arid regions where salinity in soil and water are more prevalent. Besides, plants also experience salt stress when water in hydroponic system is recycled for tomato production. Grafting high yielding but salt-susceptible tomato cultivars onto salt-resistant/tolerant rootstocks is a sustainable strategy to overcome saline stress. Selection of salt-tolerant rootstocks though screening of available commercial and wild relatives of tomato under salt stress conditions is a pre-requisite for grafting. The positive response of grafting exerted by tolerant rootstocks or scion-rootstock interactions on yield and fruit characteristics of tomato under saline conditions is attributed to several physiological and biochemical changes. In this review, the importance of tomato grafting, strategies to select appropriate rootstocks, scion-rootstock interaction for growth, yield and quality characteristics, as well as the tolerance mechanisms that (grafted) plants deploy to circumvent or minimize the effects of salt stress in root zones are discussed. The future challenges of grafting tomato are also highlighted.
Highlights
Salinity in soil or water is a serious threat to plant growth that prevents plants in achieving their genetic potential
We present an outline of the potential of a grafting tool to enhance salt tolerance in a tomato based on recent researches done across the world
RILsinterspecific as rootstocks derived interspecific technique, to recombinant inbred lines (RILs) created of from crosses arefrom directly used as crosses under salt stress was demonstrated by Albacete et as al.rootstocks
Summary
Salinity in soil or water is a serious threat to plant growth that prevents plants in achieving their genetic potential. Grafting offers an alternative to breeding and biotechnological approaches to rapidly enhance salt tolerance in vegetable plants [8,11,14,15,16]. This technique in woody perennial fruit plants has been a routine practice in Asia for more than 2000 years [14]. Watermelon produced in countries like Japan, Korea, Turkey, Greece and parts of Spain and Italy with almost 100% grafted seedlings, and the use of grafted plants is increasing immensely in other vegetables like tomato, eggplant, pepper, cucumber and melons across the world [23]. We propose a strategy for future research as well as adoption for its better exploitation for the growth of the agriculture sector
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