Modelling plant reponse to salt stress in tomato

Soil salinity is one of the main abiotic environmental challenges to sustainable agricultural production in major arable regions worldwide. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L-Solanaceae family), is one of the most important crops and is widely grown in both open fields and protected environments. Salt stress significantly affects its performance, yield, and quality. Currently, in Metaponto di Bernalda (MT, Southern Italy) is in progress a trial involving 16 tomato genotypes (S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme), obtained from previous in-field screening of 48 accessions from a non-redundant reference collection of worldwide genetic resources for salinity tolerance. The experimental trial, realized according a split plot design with 5 repetitions, included three irrigation treatment with normal water (NW, Ece 0,04 DS m-1), irrigation with mediumsalinized water (SW2, Ece 10 DS m-1) and with highly-salinized (SW3, Ece 20 DS m-1) water. Using HTP technology, it is possible to evaluate plant responses by integrating customized physiological, morpho-biometric and biochemical and genetic data. Plants are being analyzed using, the PHENOLab Plant Phenotyping Platform to assess their status at the time of sampling. PHENOLab features a high-resolution 3D laser scanner (PlantEye F600, Phenospex B.V., Heerlen, The Netherlands) mounted on a high-precision gantry that moves in both x and y directions above the plants. This high-throughput, non-invasive system enables dynamic monitoring of plant growth over time under varying environmental conditions. The platform records detailed morphological traits, including: Digital biomass, Maximum plant height, Projected Leaf Area, Leaf angle and inclination. It also captures physiological parameters, such as: Greenness (Green Leaf Index), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Plant Senescence Reflectance Index (PSRI), Normalized Pigment Chlorophyll Ratio Index (NPCI). Results from the trial will be discussed. Also, tissue samples will be collected from genotypes within applied treatments for RNA extraction and RNAseq analysis to model genome-wide expression profiles contributing to salinity tolerance in tomato. Project n. P2022LP2YW “TomResAMed” funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU — NRRP Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.1 ‘Fund for the National Research Programme and Projects of National Interest (NRP)’.