Improvement of tomato salt tolerance by the regulation of photosynthetic performance and antioxidant enzyme capacity under a low red to far-red light ratio.

The red light (R) to far-red light (FR) ratio (R:FR) regulates plant responses to salt stress, but the regulation mechanism is still unclear. In this study, tomato seedlings were grown under half-strength Hoagland solution with or without 150 mM NaCl at two different R:FR ratios (7.4 and 0.8). The photosynthetic capacity, antioxidant enzyme activities, and the phenotypes at chloroplast ultrastructure and whole plant levels were investigated. The results showed that low R:FR significantly alleviated the damage of tomato seedlings from salt stress. On day 4, 8, and 12 at low R:FR, the maximum photochemical quantum yields (Fv/Fm) of photosystem II (PSII) were increased by 4.53%, 3.89%, and 16.49%, respectively; the net photosynthetic rates (Pn) of leaves were increased by 16.21%, 90.81%, and 118.00%, respectively. Low R:FR enhanced the integrity and stability of the chloroplast structure of salinity-treated plants through maintaining the high activities of antioxidant enzymes and mitigated the degradation rate of photosynthetic pigments caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) under salt stress. The photosynthesis, antioxidant enzyme-related gene expression, and transcriptome sequencing analysis of tomato seedlings under different treatments were also investigated. Low R:FR promoted the de novo synthesis of D1 protein via triggering psbA expression, and upregulated the transcripts of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) related genes. Meanwhile, the transcriptome analysis confirmed the positive function of low R:FR on enhancing tomato salinity stress tolerance from the regulation of photosynthesis and ROS scavenging systems.

Increased CO2 and light intensity regulate growth and leaf gas exchange in tomato.

Carbon dioxide concentration (CO2 ) and light intensity are known to play important roles in plant growth and carbon assimilation. Nevertheless, the underlying physiological mechanisms have not yet been fully explored. Tomato seedlings (Solanum lycopersicum Mill. cv. Jingpeng No. 1) were exposed to two levels of CO2 and three levels of light intensity and the effects on growth, leaf gas exchange and water use efficiency were investigated. Elevated CO2 and increased light intensity promoted growth, dry matter accumulation and pigment concentration and together the seedling health index. Elevated CO2 had no significant effect on leaf nitrogen content but did significantly upregulate Calvin cycle enzyme activity. Increased CO2 and light intensity promoted photosynthesis, both on a leaf-area basis and on a chlorophyll basis. Increased CO2 also increased light-saturated maximum photosynthetic rate, apparent quantum efficiency and carboxylation efficiency and, together with increased light intensity, it raised photosynthetic capacity. However, increased CO2 reduced transpiration and water consumption across different levels of light intensity, thus significantly increasing both leaf-level and plant-level water use efficiency. Among the range of treatments imposed, the combination of increased CO2 (800 µmol CO2 mol-1 ) and high light intensity (400 µmol m-2 s-1 ) resulted in optimal growth and carbon assimilation. We conclude that the combination of increased CO2 and increased light intensity worked synergistically to promote growth, photosynthetic capacity and water use efficiency by upregulation of pigment concentration, Calvin cycle enzyme activity, light energy use and CO2 fixation. Increased CO2 also lowered transpiration and hence water usage.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Gene Expression Patterns in Tomato Under Dynamic Light Conditions.

Plants grown under highly variable natural light regimes differ strongly from plants grown under constant light (CL) regimes. Plant phenotype and adaptation responses are important for plant biomass and fitness. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms are still poorly understood, particularly from a transcriptional perspective. To investigate the influence of different light regimes on tomato plants, three dynamic light (DL) regimes were designed, using a CL regime as control. Morphological, photosynthetic, and transcriptional differences after five weeks of treatment were compared. Leaf area, plant height, shoot /root weight, total chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance all significantly decreased in response to DL regimes. The biggest expression difference was found between the treatment with the highest light intensity at the middle of the day with a total of 1080 significantly up-/down-regulated genes. A total of 177 common differentially expressed genes were identified between DL and CL conditions. Finally, significant differences were observed in the levels of gene expression between DL and CL treatments in multiple pathways, predominantly of plant-pathogen interactions, plant hormone signal transductions, metabolites, and photosynthesis. These results expand the understanding of plant development and photosynthetic regulations under DL conditions by multiple pathways.

Melatonin alleviates chilling stress in cucumber seedlings by up-regulation of CsZat12 and modulation of polyamine and abscisic acid metabolism.

To obtain new insights into the mechanisms of the positive effects of exogenous melatonin applications to cucumber seedlings during chilling, we investigated its role in regulating photosynthesis, the transcription level of csZat12 and the metabolism of polyamines (PAs) and of abscisic acid (ABA). The negative effects of chilling were clearly alleviated in cucumber seedlings by irrigation with 200 µM melatonin solution. This was evidenced by alleviation of the decline in net photosynthesis rate and also in electrolyte leakage in chilled plants. The reasons for this can be explained as follows. First, melatonin up-regulates CsZat12, an important stress-related gene. Second, melatonin increases the content of putrescine (Put) and spermidine (Spd) and stabilized spermine (Spm) by altering the activity of the PA metabolic enzymes. And, third, ABA is also involved in these effects as melatonin modulated the expression of the key ABA biosynthesis genes (CsNCED1 and CsNCED2) and also the key ABA catabolism genes (CsCYP707A1 and CsCYP707A2). This study provides new evidence suggesting melatonin mitigates chilling stress in cucumber by up-regulating the expression of CsZat12 and by modulating the metabolism of PAs and ABA.

[Effects of sub-low temperature and drought stress on characteristics of photosynthetic and fluorescence kinetics in tomato leaves].

By using tomato as material potted in climatic chamber, the photosynthetic characteristics and allocation of energy and electron flow were studied under sub-low temperature (8-15 °C) and drought (55%-65% of field moisture capacity) conditions. The results showed that the photosynthetic pigment content declined under sub-low temperature stress, but increased under drought stress. Both sub-low temperature stress and drought stress significantly decreased the intercellular CO2 concentration, stomatal conductance and photosynthetic rate, and increased the stomatal limita- tion, which further decreased or increased under simultaneous treatment of sub-low temperature and drought stress. The photorespiration significantly increased under separate treatment of sub-low temperature and drought stress, but decreased under simultaneous treatment. The stress declined the Fo, Fv/Fm and Fv'/Fm', which showed the damage of photosystem. It increased the distribution of energy to PS I and declined the photochemical efficiency, total electron flow and alternating electron flow. Thermal dissipation and the ratio of alternating electron flow were elevated to dissipate the excess energy. Compared with separate treatment of sub-low temperature and drought stress, the simultaneous treatment made thermal dissipation higher, but did not make alternating electrons flow further increase.

Regulation of Vapor Pressure Deficit by Greenhouse Micro-Fog Systems Improved Growth and Productivity of Tomato via Enhancing Photosynthesis during Summer Season.

The role of a proposed micro-fog system in regulating greenhouse environments and enhancing tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) productivity during summer season was studied. Experiments were carried out in a multi-span glass greenhouse, which was divided into two identical compartments involving different environments: (1) without environment control and (2) with a micro-fog system operating when the air vapor pressure deficit (VPD) of greenhouse was higher than 0.5 KPa. The micro-fog system effectively alleviated heat stress and evaporative demand in the greenhouse during summer season. The physiologically favourable environment maintained by micro-fog treatment significantly enhanced elongation of leaf and stem, which contributed to a substantial elevation of final leaf area and shoot biomass. These improvements in physiological and morphological traits resulted in around 12.3% increase of marketable tomato yield per plant. Relative growth rate (RGR) of micro-fog treatment was also significantly higher than control plants, which was mainly determined by the substantial elevation in net assimilation rate (NAR), and to a lesser extent caused by leaf area ratio (LAR). Measurement of leaf gas exchange parameters also demonstrated that micro-fog treatment significantly enhanced leaf photosynthesis capacity. Taken together, manipulation of VPD in greenhouses by micro-fog systems effectively enhanced tomato growth and productivity via improving photosynthesis during summer season.