Tomatoes need sun to mature and water to grow. The problem is that in arid areas, where they matures to perfection most of the year, there is little water. If the roots of a cactus could be grafted into a tomato, the plant would capture the necessary water. This idea, is exactly what researcher Jose Manuel Perez from the Institute of Bioengineering of the University Miguel Hernández (UMH) in Elche is working on. He aims to develop tools to improve plant productivity under adverse environmental conditions. The European project, entitled Rootopower, aims to study tomato plant roots and their interaction with soil micro-organisms to increase the production of horticultural crops in unfavourable conditions, such as lack of water or nutrients, salinity, soil hardness and extreme temperatures.
The novelty is that, through the application of the obtained results, we can generate varieties of rootstock (roots) that improve the performance of horticultural crops such as tomatoes, melons, peppers and eggplant addressing adverse environmental conditions.
According to the Professor from the Miguel Hernandez University, the chosen experimental system is based on tomato plants which have grafted roots from a wide genetic diversity available in the wild (related varieties). It is also the horticultural crop with the largest global production and its genome has been sequenced, thus facilitating positive outcomes and application to other crops. Spain, Holland and Turkey, countries participating in this project are the biggest tomato European producers, and for this reason, the application of research findings can enhance the competitiveness of its agriculture.
The key of the project is to make use of natural variability that exists in wild tomato species, adapted to live in adverse conditions, and transfer this tolerance to commercial varieties in a direct way through the roots through rootstocks. It is hoped that improved tomato root system promotes the uptake of water and
nutrients and increase tolerance to salinity and hardness of the soil by new roots and better interaction with fungi and soil bacteria; thus increasing crop productivity without increasing demands on water resources and fertilizers. José Manuel Pérez points out the importance that these investigations will have to improve agriculture in the Spanish south-east.
Perez recalls that, for millennia, farmers have improved their varieties, intuitively, by crossing their best plants. Today, technological advances and genetic tools allow to obtain more productive varieties and efficient use of resources. However, climate change contributes to increased temperatures and the reduction of the amount and quality of water resources, especially in Mediterranean countries, while excessive use of fertilizers pollute the environment. The professor adds that tomato production companies depend on imported varieties and, therefore, the tools developed in this project can facilitate producers to obtain new varieties and rootstocks resistant to local growing conditions. Researchers estimate that the process of improving varieties by crossing, which takes about 10 years for tomatoes, could be shortened to five or seven years.
'Rootopower' is a research project coordinated by the Center of Edaphology and Applied Biology of Segura Francisco Perez Alfocea. The Miguel Hernandez, the National Research Council (CSIC), the Valencian Institute of Agrarian Research and other universities and companies of Spain, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, United Kingdom and Germany are participating in this investigation.
Source: Elpais