The appropriate selection of rootstock-scion combinations to improve yield and fully realize grafting benefits requires an in-depth understanding of rootstock-scion synergy. Toward this end, we grafted two determinate-type scions [grape tomato (‘BHN 1022') and beefsteak tomato (‘Skyway')] onto four rootstocks with different characteristics to examine plant growth, yield performance, biomass production, and fruit mineral nutrient composition. The study was conducted during two growing seasons (spring and fall plantings in Florida) under organic production in high tunnels with the non-grafted scions as controls. Rootstocks had previously been designated as either “generative” (‘Estamino') or “vegetative” (‘DR0141TX') by some commercial suppliers or had not been characterized [‘RST-04-106-T' and ‘SHIELD RZ F1 (61-802)']. Also, ‘Estamino', ‘DR0141TX', and ‘RST-04-106-T' had been described as more vigorous than ‘SHIELD RZ F1 (61-802)'. In both planting seasons (with low levels of soilborne disease pressure), the “vegetative” and “generative” rootstocks increased marketable and total fruit yields for both scions except for the beefsteak tomato grafted with the “vegetative” rootstock in fall planting. Positive effects of ‘RST-04-106-T' on fruit yield varied with scions and planting seasons, and were most manifested when grafted with the beefsteak tomato scion in fall planting. ‘SHIELD RZ F1 (61-802)' led to similar yields as the non-grafted controls except for grafting with the grape tomato scion in fall planting. For vegetative and fruit biomass, both the “vegetative” and “generative” rootstocks had positive impacts except for the beefsteak tomato in fall planting. For fruit mineral composition, the “vegetative” and “generative” rootstocks, both highly vigorous, consistently elevated fruit P, K, Ca, Zn, and Fe contents on a dry weight basis, whereas the other rootstocks did not. Overall, although the more vigorous rootstocks enhanced tomato plant productivity and fruit minerals, the evidence presented here does not support the suggestion that the so-called “vegetative” and “generative” rootstocks have different impacts on tomato scion yield, biomass production, or fruit mineral contents. More studies with different production systems and environmental conditions as well as contrasting scion genotypes are needed to further categorize the impacts of rootstocks with different vigor and other characteristics on plant biomass production and their implications on fruit yield development.
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Tomato fruit quality is more strongly affected by scion type and planting season than by rootstock type
Previous studies of tomato rootstock effects on fruit quality have yielded mixed results, and few attempts have been made to systematically examine the association between rootstock characteristics and tomato fruit quality. In this study, grape tomato (‘BHN 1022’) and beefsteak tomato (‘Skyway’) were grafted onto four rootstocks [‘Estamino’ (vigorous and “generative”), ‘DR0141TX’ (vigorous and “vegetative”), ‘RST-04-106-T’ (uncharacterized), and ‘SHIELD RZ F1 (61–802)’ (mid-vigor, uncharacterized)] and compared to non-grafted scion controls for two growing seasons (Spring and Fall in Florida) in organically managed high tunnels. In both seasons and for both scions, the two vigorous rootstocks, regardless of their designation as “vegetative” (‘DR0141TX’) or “generative” (‘Estamino’), exhibited negative impacts on dry matter content, soluble solids content (SSC), SSC/titratable acidity (TA), lycopene, and ascorbic acid contents. Similar effects on fruit dry matter content and SSC were also observed with the ‘RST-04-106-T’ rootstock, although little to no change was seen with grafting onto ‘SHIELD RZ F1 (61–802)’. Further studies are needed to elucidate the impact of rootstock vigor on tomato volatile profiles and consumer sensory acceptability in order to better determine whether any of the documented effects are of practical importance. On the other hand, the evident effects of scion cultivar and planting season on fruit quality were observed in most of the measurements. The scion by rootstock interaction affected fruit length, firmness, pH, and total phenolic content, while the planting season by rootstock interaction impacted fruit firmness, pH, total antioxidant capacity, and ascorbic acid and lycopene contents. The multivariate separation pattern of planting season, scion, and rootstock treatments as revealed by the canonical discriminant analysis further indicated that the influence of scion cultivar and planting season on tomato fruit quality could be much more pronounced than the rootstock effects. The fruit color ( C * and H °), length and width, SSC, pH, total antioxidant capacity, ascorbic acid, and lycopene contents were the main attributes distinguishing different scion-planting season groups.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1748105
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10461754
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Frontiers in Plant Science
- Volume:
- 13
- ISSN:
- 1664-462X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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In this study, the effects of grafting with interspecific hybrid rootstocks on field-grown tomato fruit quality were evaluated over a 2-year period. Fruit quality attributes from determinate ‘Florida 47’ tomato plants grafted onto either ‘Beaufort’ or ‘Multifort’ rootstocks were compared with those from non- and self-grafted controls. Grafted plants had higher fruit yields than non- and self-grafted plants, and increased production of marketable fruit by ≈41%. The increased yield was accompanied by few major differences in nutritional quality attributes measured for these fruit. Although grafting with the interspecific rootstocks led to consistently small, but significant increases of fruit moisture (≈0.6%), flavor attributes such as total titratable acidity (TTA) and the ratio of soluble solids content (SSC) to TTA were not significantly altered. Among the antioxidants evaluated, ascorbic acid concentration was reduced by 22% in fruit from grafted plants, but significant effects were not evident for either total phenolics or antioxidant capacity as assayed by oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Levels of carotenoids (lycopene, β-carotene, and lutein) were similar in fruit from grafted plants with hybrid rootstocks compared with non- and self-grafted controls. Overall, the seasonal differences outweighed the grafting effects on fruit quality attributes. This study showed that grafting with interspecific hybrid rootstocks could be an effective horticultural technique for enhancing fruit yield of tomato plants. Despite the modest reduction in ascorbic acid content associated with the use of these rootstocks, grafting did not cause major negative impacts on fruit composition or nutritional quality of fresh-market tomatoes.more » « less
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Abstract Background Grafting is a horticultural practice used widely across woody perennial crop species to fuse together the root and shoot system of two distinct genotypes, the rootstock and the scion, combining beneficial traits from both. In grapevine, grafting is used in nearly 80% of all commercial vines to optimize fruit quality, regulate vine vigor, and enhance biotic and abiotic stress-tolerance. Rootstocks have been shown to modulate elemental composition, metabolomic profiles, and the shape of leaves in the scion, among other traits. However, it is currently unclear how rootstock genotypes influence shoot system gene expression as previous work has reported complex and often contradictory findings.
Results In the present study, we examine the influence of grafting on scion gene expression in leaves and reproductive tissues of grapevines growing under field conditions for three years. We show that the influence from the rootstock genotype is highly tissue and time dependent, manifesting only in leaves, primarily during a single year of our three-year study. Further, the degree of rootstock influence on scion gene expression is driven by interactions with the local environment.
Conclusions Our results demonstrate that the role of rootstock genotype in modulating scion gene expression is not a consistent, unchanging effect, but rather an effect that varies over time in relation to local environmental conditions.
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Abstract Grafting is a common horticultural practice used to confer desirable traits between rootstock and scion, including disease resistance. To investigate graft‐conferred resistance against viral diseases a novel heterografting system was developed using
Nicotiana benthamiana scions grafted onto different tomato rootstocks.N. benthamiana is normally highly susceptible to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) infection. However, specific tomato rootstock varieties were found to confer a range of resistance levels toN. benthamiana scions inoculated with TMV. Conferred resistance was associated with delays in virus accumulation and the reduction in virus spread. RNA sequencing analysis showed the enrichment of transcripts associated with disease resistance and plant stress inN. benthamiana scions grafted onto resistance‐inducing tomato rootstocks. Genome sequencing of resistance‐ and nonresistance‐conferring rootstocks was used to identify mobile tomato transcripts withinN. benthamiana scions. Within resistance‐inducedN. benthamiana scions, enriched mobile tomato transcripts were predominantly associated with defence, stress, and abscisic acid signalling when compared to similar scions grafted onto nonresistance‐inducing rootstock. Combining these findings suggests that graft‐induced resistance is modulated by rootstock scion transcriptional responses and rootstock‐specific mobile transcripts. -
Abstract Plants transmit signals long distances, as evidenced in grafting experiments that create distinct rootstock-scion junctions. Noncoding small RNA is a signaling molecule that is graft transmissible, participating in RNA-directed DNA methylation; but the meiotic transmissibility of graft-mediated epigenetic changes remains unclear. Here, we exploit the MSH1 system in Arabidopsis and tomato to introduce rootstock epigenetic variation to grafting experiments. Introducing mutations dcl2 , dcl3 and dcl4 to the msh1 rootstock disrupts siRNA production and reveals RdDM targets of methylation repatterning. Progeny from grafting experiments show enhanced growth vigor relative to controls. This heritable enhancement-through-grafting phenotype is RdDM-dependent, involving 1380 differentially methylated genes, many within auxin-related gene pathways. Growth vigor is associated with robust root growth of msh1 graft progeny, a phenotype associated with auxin transport based on inhibitor assays. Large-scale field experiments show msh1 grafting effects on tomato plant performance, heritable over five generations, demonstrating the agricultural potential of epigenetic variation.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.948556
