Enhancing tomato plants’ resilience to climate change: The role of mycorrhization and strigolactones
Author(s)
Date Issued
2025
Type
conferenceObject
Abstract
Currently, tomato production within the Mediterranean
basin faces great challenges due to climate change,
namely the growing incidence of heat peaks and soil
salinity. In this context, efforts to tackle these issues are
particularly relevant. Thus, this research aimed at
understanding if arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF; root
inoculation with a commercial AMF inoculum – Symbivit®)
and/or strigolactones (SLs; foliar spray with 5 μM GR24, a
synthetic analogue) could improve tomato plants’
resilience to a hot (>35 ºC for most of the pre-harvest
period) and saline (three-week irrigation with 100 mM
NaCl) environment. The experimental trial lasted
between April and August 2023, covering the plants’ life
cycle from germination to fruit maturity. Briefly, data
showed salt-irrigated plants presented reduced
photochemical efficiency, whereas this effect was not
observed upon treatment with AMF or SLs. However,
regarding productivity-related endpoints, plants
responded differently to the treatments. Here, plants
treated with AMF exhibited significant improvements in
growth, fruit production, and overall yield, even under
stressful conditions, correlating with an enhanced gas
exchange ability. On the other hand, although SLs are
usually associated with stress tolerance and the
promotion of mycorrhization, their application did not
provide additional benefits beyond those conferred by
AMF alone, actually negating some of these effects.
Furthermore, the applied treatments and saline
conditions influenced fruit composition, altering
attributes such as sugar content and phenolic acid levels.
Similar differential modulations were also observed in
microbiome composition, emphasizing the complex
interplay between plant physiology and soil microbial
communities. These findings underscore the importance
of a holistic, multi-level approach when assessing plant
stress responses in agricultural contexts and highlight
AMF inoculation as a viable and sustainable strategy to
enhance tomato resilience against heat and salinity,
ensuring stable yields and maintaining fruit quality
under realistic conditions.
Conference(s)
Plant Biology Europe Congress, Budapest, Hungary