Proteomic comparison of mock‑ and potato spindle tuber viroid‑infected tomato revealed a broad down‑regulation of nucleoporins and nuclear transport receptors, leading to impaired nuclear import of the immune regulator NPR1. Overexpression of NPR1 or treatment with a salicylic‑acid analog restored defense and reduced PSTVd infection, highlighting nuclear transport repression as a key vulnerability in plant immunity against viroids.
The study isolated an endophytic Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain (SPT08) from tomato cotyledon seedlings that suppressed the wilt pathogen Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum and promoted plant growth, increasing height by 20% and root biomass by 60%. GFP labeling confirmed endophytic colonization, and genomic analysis revealed multiple secretion systems and secondary‑metabolite gene clusters associated with biocontrol and growth‑promoting traits.
Introducing furanocoumarin biosynthetic genes in tomato results in coumarins accumulation and impacted growth
Authors: Bouille, A., Villard, C., Galati, G., Roumani, M., Fauvet, A., Grosjean, J., Hoengenaert, L., Boerjan, W., Ralph, J., Hilliou, F., Robin, C., Hehn, A., Larbat, R.
The study engineered the linear furanocoumarin pathway in tomato by integrating four biosynthetic genes, aiming to produce psoralen, but instead generated coumarins such as scopoletin. Morphophysiological, metabolomic, and transcriptomic analyses revealed that even low levels of these coumarins can influence plant growth and physiology, highlighting both benefits and costs of coumarin accumulation in crops.
The study investigates hormetic responses of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) seedlings to low‑dose cadmium, demonstrating enhanced growth through morphological, biochemical, and histochemical analyses. Transcriptomic profiling revealed differential expression of oxidoreductase genes, signaling components, and several long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that generate miRNAs (sly‑MIR396a and sly‑MIR1063g), which modulate target genes to promote growth. In‑silico analyses of lncRNA targets and miRNA precursors provide mechanistic insight into cadmium‑induced hormesis and its potential for crop improvement.
Tomato leaf transcriptomic changes promoted by long-term water scarcity stress can be largely prevented by a fungal-based biostimulant
Authors: Lopez-Serrano, L., Ferez-Gomez, A., Romero-Aranda, R., Jaime Fernandez, E., Leal Lopez, J., Fernandez Baroja, E., Almagro, G., Dolezal, K., Novak, O., Diaz, L., Bautista, R., Leon Morcillo, R. J., Pozueta Romero, J.
Foliar application of Trichoderma harzianum cell‑free culture filtrates (CF) increased fruit yield, root growth, and photosynthesis in a commercial tomato cultivar under prolonged water deficit in a Mediterranean greenhouse. Integrated physiological, metabolite, and transcriptomic analyses revealed that CF mitigated drought‑induced changes, suppressing about half of water‑stress responsive genes, thereby reducing the plant’s transcriptional sensitivity to water scarcity.
The study profiled root transcriptomes of Arabidopsis wild type and etr1 gain-of-function (etr1-3) and loss-of-function (etr1-7) mutants under ethylene or ACC treatment, identifying 4,522 ethylene‑responsive transcripts, including 553 that depend on ETR1 activity. ETR1‑dependent genes encompassed ethylene biosynthesis enzymes (ACO2, ACO3) and transcription factors, whose expression was further examined in an ein3eil1 background, revealing that both ETR1 and EIN3/EIL1 pathways regulate parts of the network controlling root hair proliferation and lateral root formation.
Exogenous Hormone Treatments Reveal Species-Specific Regulation of Individual Components of Root Architecture and Salt Ion Accumulation in Cultivated and Wild Tomatoes
Authors: Rahmati-Ishka, M., Craft, E., Pineros, M., Julkowska, M. M.
The study examined how individual hormone treatments (auxin, ethylene, gibberellin) influence root architecture and ion accumulation under salt stress in three tomato accessions, revealing species-specific hormonal effects on lateral root development and Na/K ratios. Genetic analyses using Arabidopsis mutants and a tomato ethylene‑perception mutant (nr) identified novel hormonal signaling components that modulate salt stress responses, highlighting potential strategies to improve crop performance.
The study performs a bibliometric analysis of 1,702 Scopus-indexed tomato omics publications over two decades, revealing a rapid surge in output after 2017 and highlighting dominant fields such as biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. Citation and co‑authorship network analyses identify key contributions in microRNA research and genome sequencing, major research hubs, and collaborative clusters, while keyword mapping underscores stress response, fruit quality, and immunity as priority topics.
The study characterizes the tomato class B heat shock factor SlHSFB3a, revealing its age‑dependent expression in roots and its role in enhancing lateral root density by modulating auxin homeostasis. Overexpression of SlHSFB3a increases lateral root emergence, while CRISPR‑mediated knockouts produce the opposite phenotype, indicating that SlHSFB3a regulates auxin signaling through repression of auxin repressors and activation of the ARF7/LOB20 pathway.
The study investigated how Arabidopsis thaliana SR protein kinases (AtSRPKs) regulate alternative RNA splicing by using chemical inhibitors of SRPK activity. Inhibition with SPHINX31 and SRPIN340 caused reduced root growth and loss of root hairs, accompanied by widespread changes in splicing and phosphorylation of genes linked to root development and other cellular processes. Multi‑omics analysis (transcriptomics and phosphoproteomics) revealed that AtSRPKs modulate diverse splicing factors and affect the splicing landscape of numerous pathways.