Adventitious root formation in tomato under flooding

MARÍA LAURA VIDOZ; ELENA LORETI; AMEDEO ALPI; PIERDOMENICO PERATA

Verona, Italia

Congreso; Primer Congreso de la Società Italiana di Biologia Vegetale; 2009

Società Italiana di Biologia Vegetale

Flooding is one of the most frequent and extensive abiotic stresses that affect plant growth. Although tomato (<Solanum lycopersicum>) is known for its sensitivity to waterlogging, its ability to produce adventitious roots (AR) increases plant survival when oxygen availability decreases in the root zone. The aim of our study was to better understand ethylene and auxin function in tomato AR production under flooding. Root primordia were observed in hypocotyls 48 h after the beginning of the submergence treatment. However, when flooded plants were treated with aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG), a compound that prevents the synthesis of the ethylene precursor, there was a hamper in AR emergence. The use of 1-naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA), an auxin transport inhibitor, has also resulted in a reduction of AR formation under waterlogging. Moreover, less AR were obtained in experiments with tomato mutants characterized by a lower sensitivity to ethylene and auxin (<Never ripe> and <diagetropica>, respectively), suggesting that perception and accumulation of ethylene and auxin below the cotyledonary node are required to trigger this adaptive response to flooding.