Photosynthetica

, Volume 52, Issue 3, pp 421–429 | Cite as

Response of two tomato cultivars to field-applied proline under irrigation with saline water: Growth, chlorophyll fluorescence and nutritional aspects

  • B. Kahlaoui
  • M. Hachicha
  • S. Rejeb
  • M. N. Rejeb
  • B. Hanchi
  • E. Misle
Original Papers
First Online:
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Accepted:

Abstract

The response of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) to abiotic stress has been widely investigated. Recent physiological studies focus on the use of osmoprotectants to ameliorate stress damage, but experiments at a field level are scarce. Two tomato cultivars were used for an experiment with saline water (6.57 dS m−1) and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) in a silty clay soil. Rio Grande is a salinity-tolerant cultivar, while Heinz-2274 is the salt-sensitive cultivar. Exogenous application of proline was done by foliar spray at two concentrations (10 and 20 mg L−1) during the flowering stage. Control plants were treated with saline water without proline. Proline at the lower concentration (10 mg L−1) increased dry mass of different plant organs (leaves, stems, and roots) and it improved various chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters compared with controls. Regarding mineral nutrition, K+ and P were higher in different organs, while low accumulation of Na+ occurred. However, Mg2+ was very high in all tissues of Rio Grande at the higher concentration of proline applied. Thus, the foliar spray of proline at 10 mg L−1 increased the tolerance of both cultivars. The growth of aboveground biomass of Heinz-2274 was enhanced by 63.5%, while Rio Grande improved only by 38.9%.

Additional key words

chlorophyll fluorescence foliar pulverization proline salt tolerance Solanum lycopersicum Tunisia 

Abbreviations

Chl

chlorophyll

CK

control

DM

dry mass

ECw

electrical conductivity of water

Fm

maximal fluorescence in the dark-adapted leaves

Fm′

maximal fluorescence in the light-adapted leaves

F0

minimal fluorescence in the dark-adapted leaves

Fs

steady-state fluorescence

Fv

maximal variable fluorescence in the dark-adapted leaves

Fv′

maximal variable fluorescence in the light-adapted leaves

Fv/Fm

maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry

Fv′/Fm′

efficiency of excitation energy capture by open PSII reaction centers

NPQ

nonphotochemical quenching

ϕPSII

the quantum yield of PSII electron transport

PQ-pool

plastoquinone pool

Pro

proline

Pro10

proline concentration of 10 mg L−1

Pro20

proline concentration of 20 mg L−1

SAR

sodium adsorption ratio

ROS

reactive oxygen species

SC

salt-sensitive cultivar

SDI

subsurface drip irrigation

TC

salt-tolerant cultivar

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Copyright information

© The Institute of Experimental Botany 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • B. Kahlaoui
    • 1
  • M. Hachicha
    • 1
  • S. Rejeb
    • 1
  • M. N. Rejeb
    • 1
  • B. Hanchi
    • 2
  • E. Misle
    • 3
  1. 1.National Research Institute of Rural EngeneeringWaters and Forestry (INRGREF)ArianaTunisia
  2. 2.Faculty of Sciences, TunisUniversity CampusTunisTunisia
  3. 3.Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and ForestryUniversidad Católica del MauleCasillaCuricó, Chile

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