PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS FOR GROWING TOMATOES IN DIFFERENT SALT

Abstract

Abstract: Climate change together with excessive fertilization and poor water
quality can affect soil quality and salinization. In plants, high salinity causes osmotic
stress, ionic toxicity, and oxidative stress. Consequently, salt stress limits plant
development, growth, productivity, and yield. Tomatoes are a very common
agricultural product, and some cultivars can partially tolerate salinity. However,
most studies are focused on salt excess, which does not necessarily extrapolate on
how plants develop in soils with low concentrations of salts. Thus, this study
characterizes plant growth and the development of different salt concentrations
from 25 to 200 mM in Solanum lycopersicum cv. Moneymaker. Tomato seedlings
grown in Murashige and Skoog medium supplied with different NaCl
concentrations (0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, and 200 mM) showed that low salt
concentrations (25 and 50 mM) have a positive impact on lateral root development.
This was further observed in physiological parameters such as shoot length, primary
root length, and proliferation of lateral roots versus controls. Interestingly, no
significant changes in Na+ concentration were observed in 25 mM NaCl in roots or
shoots versus controls. Overall, our results suggest that non-toxic salt concentrations
can have a positive impact on plant development.