E. Perezalfocea et al., COMPARATIVE SALT RESPONSES AT CELL AND WHOLE-PLANT LEVELS OF CULTIVATED AND WILD TOMATO SPECIES AND THEIR HYBRID, Journal of Horticultural Science, 69(4), 1994, pp. 639-644
Response to increased salinity was compared in whole plants and calli
from leaf, stem and root of Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. P-73, Ly
copersicon pennellii (Correll) D'Arcy ac PE-47 and their interspecific
hybrid. Three NaCl treatments were applied (0, 70 and 140 mM) for 28
d. In both calli and whole plants, L. pennellii was more salt-tolerant
than the cultivated species and the hybrid according to the growth re
sponses, although different degrees of salt tolerance were generally f
ound between plants and calli. The Na+ and Cl- accumulations with sali
nity were higher in L. pennellii than in L. esculentum at both levels
of organization. The interspecific hybrid showed an accumulation abili
ty for Na+ and Cl- intermediate to its parents in the shoot of the who
le plants and similar to L. pennellii in the callus tissues. Either no
decrease or a small decrease of K+ concentrations with salinity were
found in both whole plants and callus tissues of L. esculentum. Howeve
r, K+ concentrations decreased in the organs and calli of L. pennellii
and the hybrid with increasing salinity. Only at the whole plant leve
l did L. pennellii have a Na+/K+ ratio higher than L. esculentum, show
ing the hybrid to have values between those of its parents in the shoo
t.