Researchers Analyze Salt Stress Tolerance of Wild Tomatoes

Scientists from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and partners identified various factors and genes that are associated with the salt stress tolerance of wild tomatoes.

Soil salinity is a major stressor that affects agricultural productivity around the world. It is important to understand how crops respond to salt stress to develop resilient varieties.

Researchers exposed wild tomatoes (Solanum pimpinellifolium) to different levels of salt stress and used high-throughput phenotyping in greenhouse and field conditions to analyze the responses of the plants. Their findings showed that traits, such as ion accumulation, shoot mass, and transpiration rate are associated with plant performance under salt stress. The team also identified genes that were not previously related to salt stress tolerance. “These specific genotypes can be used as allele donors for further improving crop performance and developing more sustainable agriculture,” said Magda Julkowska, one of the main authors of the study.

For more information, read the article in The Plant Journal.