AUTHOR=Borella Matteo , Baghdadi Ali , Bertoldo Giovanni , Della Lucia Maria Cristina , Chiodi Claudia , Celletti Silvia , Deb Saptarathi , Baglieri Andrea , Zegada-Lizarazu Walter , Pagani Elena , Monti Andrea , Mangione Francesca , Magro Francesco , Hermans Christian , Stevanato Piergiorgio , Nardi Serenella TITLE=Transcriptomic and physiological approaches to decipher cold stress mitigation exerted by brown-seaweed extract application in tomato JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=14 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1232421 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1232421 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=

Chilling temperatures represent a challenge for crop species originating from warm geographical areas. In this situation, biostimulants serve as an eco-friendly resource to mitigate cold stress in crops. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an economically important vegetable crop, but quite sensitive to cold stress, which it encounters in both open field and greenhouse settings. In this study, the biostimulant effect of a brown-seaweed extract (BSE) has been evaluated in tomato exposed to low temperature. To assess the product effects, physiological and molecular characterizations were conducted. Under cold stress conditions, stomatal conductance, net photosynthesis, and yield were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher in BSE-treated plants compared to the untreated ones. A global transcriptomic survey after BSE application revealed the impact of the BSE treatment on genes leading to key responses to cold stress. This was highlighted by the significantly enriched GO categories relative to proline (GO:0006560), flavonoids (GO:0009812, GO:0009813), and chlorophyll (GO:0015994). Molecular data were integrated by biochemical analysis showing that the BSE treatment causes greater proline, polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, and carotenoids contents.The study highlighted the role of antioxidant molecules to enhance tomato tolerance to low temperature mediated by BSE-based biostimulant.