Response of seven tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cultivars produced in Benin to salinity stress at young plant stage

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the salt resistance level of seven tomato cultivars Akikon, Tounvi, Thorgal, F1 Mongal, Padma, Petomech and TLCV15 at young plant stage. The experiment was laid out as a Randomized Complete Design (RCD) with four replications in a greenhouse. Three-week old plants from the seven cultivars were submitted in pots containing a mixture of potting soil and sand to five NaCl concentrations: 0; 30; 60; 90 and 120 mM NaCl corresponding respectively to an electric conductivity of 0.221; 3.827; 6.47; 10.56 and 14.02 dS.m-1 by irrigation every two days. Plant growth parameters were evaluated after two weeks. Salt effect caused a reduction of young plant growth whatever the growth parameter considered with a significant difference among cultivars. Growth of cultivars Padma, Akikon and Petomech was more affected by salt stress with two or three growth parameters significantly reduced at 30 mM NaCl whereas no growth parameter was significantly affected at less than 60 mM NaCl for cultivars Thorgal and Tounvi. Thus, cultivars Akikon, Petomech and Padma appeared as the most sensitive to salt stress. In contrast, cultivars Tounvi and Thorgal appeared as the most salt-resistant. Cultivars F1 Mongal and TLCV15 had intermediary behavior.

Ions and Organic Solutes as Implicated in the Ameliorative Effect of Exogenous Application of Calcium on Salt Stressed Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) Plants

“…As for other plants species, salt stress reduces tomato plants' growth [16,17]. Studies in the Republic of Benin have shown that several tomato cultivars produced in the country undergo significant reductions in growth under NaCl salt stress [8]. It is well known that improving a plant's tolerance to salinity can be achieved, in addition to genetic selection, through the use of suitable physiological tools [18].…”

“…Day/night mean temperatures were 26°C/23°C with a mean humidity of 55%. The experiment was conducted as described by Kinsou et al [8] with three plants per pot. Four treatments were used consisting in watering the plants every other day with 200 ml / pot of 0 mM (Control: C); 120 mM NaCl (Salt: S); 120 mM NaCl + 40 mM CaSO 4 (S + CaSO 4 ) and 120 mM NaCl + 40 mM Ca(NO 3 ) 2 (S + Ca(NO 3 ) 2 ).…”

“…It is considered as the major abiotic factor that limits plant productivity and agricultural yield [1,2]. Several studies have reported that salts present in soil and in irrigation water reduce plant growth [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and consequently reduce crop production. Soil salinity affects plant growth, either through osmotic effects or ionic toxicity effects.…”

Response of seven African eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon L.) cultivars produced in Benin to salinity stress at seedling stage

“…Thus, there is variability among cultivars relatively to their response to salinity. It is well known in plants that there is substantial variation in resistance to salinity among cultivars of the same species (Gandonou et al, 2012;Wouyou et al, 2017;Kpinkoun et al, 2019;Kinsou et al, 2020).…”

“…Salinity is one of the most important environmental constraints limiting plant productivity around the world (Ashraf and Harris, 2004). Although most of the cultivated plants are glycophyte species, their overall responses to increasing NaCl do appear to be species-specific (Lutts et al, 1995;Wouyou et al, 2017;Kpinkoun et al, 2019;Kinsou et al, 2020). Moreover, within a given species, a substantial variation in salt sensitivity may occur among cultivars (Ould Mohandi et al, 2011;Manaa et al, 2011).…”