Abstract

RUIZ ESPINOZA, Francisco Higinio et al. Differential response to salinity in tomato genotypes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) in early phenologycal stages. Terra Latinoam [online]. 2014, vol.32, n.4, pp.311-323. ISSN 2395-8030.

Salinity affects both vegetative growth and reproductive development of plants and can reduce the number of flowers, increase sterility and alter the duration of flowering and ripening. In Mexico, the tomato is one of the most economically and socially important vegetable species for its value of production and the demand for labor it generates. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of salinity on morphological variables in two phenological stages (germination and early vegetative growth) of eight genotypes of tomato: Tropic, Feroz, Ace, Super Rio Grande, Yaqui, Missouri, Vita and Floradade. These genotypes were exposed to salt stress by adding NaCl at concentrations of 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM, under a completely randomized design with four replications. In the germination stage morphometric variables, germination percentage, fresh weight of aerial part, dry weight of aerial part and root fresh weight were measured. In the initial stage of vegetative growth, stem length, stem fresh weight, number of leaves and leaf area were measured. The results of the germination stage show that as the salt concentration increased, germination percentage decreased. Tropic and Yaqui showed higher values, while Tropic and Missouri showed the highest fresh and dry weights of the aerial parts. The genotypes with lower tolerance at this stage were Feroz, Vita and Ace. In the initial stage of vegetative growth, it was determined that the cultivars that had better response or increased tolerance to salt stress were Missouri, Tropic, Feroz and Vita, while the genotypes with lower tolerance to salinity at this stage were Floradade and Ace. We conclude that in both stages there is a potential difference among tomato genotypes in response to salt stress (NaCl), revealing that salt tolerance in tomatoes is associated with the phenological stage of plant, as some genotypes showed lower tolerance to salinity in the germination stage, but increased their tolerance in the initial stage of vegetative growth.

Keywords : salinity tolerance; arid zones; sodium chloride; selection.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )