Investigation of the ameliorating effects of eggplant, datura, orange nightshade, local Iranian tobacco, and field tomato as rootstocks on alkali stress in tomato plants

Abstract

Among the most important quality parameters of irrigation water used for greenhouse crops, alkalinity of water is considered critical due to its impact on soil or growing medium solution pH. In this study, plant growth, Fe content, photosynthetic pigment content, maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (F v/F m), performance index (PI), leaf relative water content (LRWC), and soluble sugars concentration were investigated in nongrafted and grafted tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Red stone) plants onto five rootstocks of eggplant (Solanum melongena cv. Long purple), datura (Datura patula), orange nightshade (Solanum luteum Mill.), local Iranian tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), and field tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Cal. jn3), exposed to 0, 5, and 10 mM NaHCO 3 concentrations, to determine whether grafting could improve alkalinity tolerance of tomato. Significant depression of leaf area, leaf and stem dry mass, shoot and root Fe content and LRWC under high NaHCO 3 level was observed in both grafted and ungrafted plants. The highest reduction in the shoot Fe content was observed at 10 mM sodium bicarbonate in control plants (greenhouse tomato). Moreover, at high HCO 3- level, the highest percentage of LRWC reduction was also recorded in ungrafted plants. Values of F v/F m and PI decreased significantly at 5 and 10 mM NaHCO 3 irrespective of rootstock type. The present study revealed that soluble sugars content, photosynthetic pigments content, F v/F m and PI values in plants grafted onto datura rootstock were higher than those in nongrafted and rest of the grafted plants. Thus, the use of datura rootstock could provide a useful tool to improve alkalinity tolerance of tomato plants under NaHCO 3 stress. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.