Salinity is a significant factor restricting plant development at various stages, resulting in lower yield and productivity. The current study was carried out to investigate and assess the tolerance of several tomato genotypes to salty conditions. Thirty (30) tomato genotypes were cultivated in pots and tested for salinity at three levels: 5 ds/m NaCl, 10 ds/m NaCl, and 15 ds/m NaCl, in comparison to the control (0 mM NaCl). Two weeks after treatment, several morphological and physiological parameters were measured. The effects of salt stress on tomato genotypes included a considerable reduction in leaf area, chlorophyll content, shoot and root length, shoot and root biomass, and relative water content. Different tomato genotypes responded differently to salinity severity score (SSS). Reduction of shoot dry weight (0.27 to 0.44) and leaf area (0.33 to 0.45) were positively correlated with SSS at moderate (10 ds/m) to higher (15 ds/m) salinity levels, respectively. Based on the experiment results, the genotypes BARI Tomato 4, BARI Tomato 14, BARI Tomato 15, SAU Tomato 2, AV₀T₀ 1228, and NS 501 were found to be more salinity tolerant than other genotypes. The results showed that measuring shoot length, leaf area, and shoot fresh and dry weight was better for evaluating salinity stress and screening salt-tolerant tomato genotypes.

tomato; salinity, tolerance; relative water content; leaf area

1. Dutta P, Bera AK. Screening of mungbean genotypes for drought tolerance. Legume Research-An International Journal 2008; 31(2): 145–148.

2. Rozema J, Flowers T. Crops for a salinized world. Science 2008; 322(5907): 1478–1480. doi: 10.1126/science.1168572

3. James RA, Blake C, Byrt CS, et al. Major genes for Na+ exclusion, Nax1 and Nax2 (wheat HKT1;4 and HKT1;5), decrease Na+ accumulation in bread wheat leaves under saline and waterlogged conditions. Journal of Experimental Botany 2011; 62(8): 2939–2947. doi: 10.1093/jxb/err003

4. Munns R. Genes and salt tolerance: Bringing them together. New Phytologist 2005; 167(3): 645–663. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2005.01487.x

5. Cuartero J, Fernández-Muñoz R. Tomato and salinity. Scientia Horticulturae 1998; 78(1–4): 83–125. doi: 10.1016/s0304-4238(98)00191-5

6. Foolad MR. Recent advances in genetics of salt tolerance in tomato. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 2004; 76(2): 101–119. doi: 10.1023/b:ticu.0000007308.47608.88

7. Memon SA, Hou X, Wang LJ. Morphlogical analysis of salt stress response of pak choi. Electronic Journal of Environmental, Agricultural & Food Chemistry 2010; 9(1): 248–254.

8. Gama PBS, Tanaka K, Eneji AE, et al. Salt-induced stress effects on biomass, photosynthetic rate, and reactive oxygen species-scavenging enzyme accumulation in common bean. Journal of Plant Nutrition 2009; 32(5): 837–854. doi: 10.1080/01904160902787925

9. Gama PBS, Inanaga S, Tanaka K, et al. Physiological response of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) seedlings to salinity stress. African Journal of Biotechnology 2007; 6(2).

10. Liu R, Sun W, Chao MX, et al. Leaf anatomical changes of Bruguiera gymnorrhiza seedlings under salt stress. Journal of Tropical and Subtropical Botany 2009; 17(2): 169–175.

11. Chartzoulakis K, Klapaki G. Response of two greenhouse pepper hybrids to NaCl salinity during different growth stages. Scientia Horticulturae 2000; 86(3): 247–260. doi: 10.1016/s0304-4238(00)00151-5

12. Shannon MC. Adaptation of plants to salinity. Advances in Agronomy 1997; 60: 75–120. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2113(08)60601-x

13. Hariyadi BW, Nizak F, Nurmalasari IR, Koogoya Y. Effect of dose and time of npk fertilizer application on the growth and yield of tomato plants (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill). Agricultural Science 2019; 2(2): 101–111.

14. Choudhury S, Hu H, Larkin P, et al. Agronomical, biochemical and histological response of resistant and susceptible wheat and barley under BYDV stress. PeerJ 2018; 6: e4833. doi: 10.7717/peerj.4833

15. Choudhury S, Larkin P, Meinke H, et al. Barley yellow dwarf virus infection affects physiology, morphology, grain yield and flour pasting properties of wheat. Crop and Pasture Science 2019; 70(1): 16. doi: 10.1071/cp18364

16. Ali S, Islam N, Choudhury S. Productivity of strawberry as influenced by mulch materials and gibberellin under net house condition. Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science 2023; 8(2): 144–149. doi: 10.26832/24566632.2023.080208

17. Smart RE, Bingham GE. Rapid estimates of relative water content. Plant Physiology 1974; 53(2): 258–260. doi: 10.1104/pp.53.2.258

18. Carmassi G, Incrocci L, Incrocci G, Pardossi A. Non-destructive estimation of leaf area in Solanum lycopersicum L. and gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii H. Bolus). Agricultura Mediterranea 2007; 137: 172–176.

19. Werner JE, Finkelstein RR. Arabidopsis mutants with reduced response to NaCl and osmotic stress. Physiologia Plantarum 1995; 93(4): 659–666. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3054.1995.tb05114.x

20. Singh J, Sastry EVD, Singh V. Effect of salinity on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) during seed germination stage. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants 2011; 18(1): 45–50. doi: 10.1007/s12298-011-0097-z

21. Neumann PM. Inhibition of root growth by salinity stress: Toxicity or an adaptive biophysical response? In: Baluška F, Čiamporová M, Gašparíková O, Barlow PW (editors). Structure and Function of Roots. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences. Springer; 1995. Volume 58, pp. 299–304. doi: 10.1007/978-94-017-3101-0_39

22. Azarafshan M, Abbaspour N. Growth and physiological parameters under salinity stress in Lotus corniculatus. Iranian Journal of Plant Physiology 2014; 4(2): 991–997.

23. Tester M. Na+ tolerance and Na+ transport in higher plants. Annals of Botany 2003; 91(5): 503–527. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcg058

24. Hajer AS, Malibari AA, Al-Zahrani HS, Almaghrabi OA. Responses of three tomato cultivars to sea water salinity 1. Effect of salinity on the seedling growth. African Journal of Biotechnology 2006; 5(10).

25. Al-Busaidi A, Al-Rawahy S, Ahmed M. Response of different tomato cultivars to diluted seawater salinity. Asian Journal of Crop Science 2009; 1(2): 77–86. doi: 10.3923/ajcs.2009.77.86

26. Al-Rawahy SA. Nitrogen Uptake, Growth Rate and Yield of Tomatoes under Saline Conditions [Master’s thesis]. The University of Arizona;1989.

27. Ullah N, Basit A, Ahmad I, et al. Mitigation the adverse effect of salinity stress on the performance of the tomato crop by exogenous application of chitosan. Bulletin of the National Research Centre 2020; 44(1). doi: 10.1186/s42269-020-00435-4

28. Issifu M, Songoro EK, Niyomukiza S, et al. Identification and in vitro characterization of plant growth-promoting Pseudomonas spp. isolated from the rhizosphere of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) plants in Kenya. Universal Journal of Agricultural Research 2022; 10(6): 667–681. doi: 10.13189/ujar.2022.100608

29. Elkarim AH, Taban N, Taban S. Effect of salt stress on growth and ion distribution and accumulation in shoot and root of maize plant. African Journal of Agricultural Research 2010; 5(7): 584–588. doi: 10.5897/AJAR09.677

30. Sairam RK, Rao KV, Srivastava GC. Differential response of wheat genotypes to long term salinity stress in relation to oxidative stress, antioxidant activity and osmolyte concentration. Plant Science 2002; 163(5): 1037–1046. doi: 10.1016/s0168-9452(02)00278-9

31. Neocleous D, Vasilakakis M. Effects of NaCl stress on red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L. ‘Autumn Bliss’). Scientia Horticulturae 2007; 112(3): 282–289. doi: 10.1016/j.scienta.2006.12.025

32. Maggio A, Raimondi G, Martino A, et al. Salt stress response in tomato beyond the salinity tolerance threshold. Environmental and Experimental Botany 2007; 59(3): 276–282. doi: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2006.02.002

33. Kongsri S, Boonprakob U, Byrne DH. Assessment of morphological and physiological responses of peach rootstocks under drought and aluminum stress. Acta Horticulturae 2014; 1059: 229–236. doi: 10.17660/actahortic.2014.1059.30

34. Taffouo VD, Wamba OF, Youmbi E, et al. Growth, yield, water status and ionic distribution response of three bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) landraces grown under saline conditions. International Journal of Botany 2009; 6(1): 53–58. doi: 10.3923/ijb.2010.53.58

35. Neelam S, Subramanyam R. Alteration of photochemistry and protein degradation of photosystem II from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii under high salt grown cells. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology 2013; 124: 63–70. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2013.04.007

36. Smirnoff N. Botanical briefing: The function and metabolism of ascorbic acid in plants. Annals of Botany 1996; 78(6): 661–669. doi: 10.1006/anbo.1996.0175

37. Elsheery NI, Cao KF. Gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, and osmotic adjustment in two mango cultivars under drought stress. Acta Physiologiae Plantarum 2008; 30(6): 769–777. doi: 10.1007/s11738-008-0179-x