Vol. 70 No: 6

Title:
Responses of Ca-Efficient and Ca-Inefficient Tomato Cultivars to Salinity in Plant Growth, Calcium Accumulation and Blossom-End Rot

Authors:
L.C. HO, P. ADAMS, X.Z. LI, H. SHEN, J. ANDREWS and Z.H. XU

pp: 909-918

Abstract:
Growth responses of tomato plants to salinity in relation to blossom-end rot (BER) in two Ca-efficient (E₁ and E₂) and two Ca-inefficient (I₁ and I₂) cultivars, together with a modern cv. Counter (C) were studied at 5 and 12 mS cm^-1. E-type plants were leafy and had the heaviest plant dry weight. They accumulated more dry matter than I-type plants in the leaves but less in the fruit, which were small. E-type plants had higher water and Ca uptakes and thus higher plant Ca than I-types, but with a lower proportion of the Cai n the fruit. E-types suffered less reduction in Ca accumulation at high salinity. The higher uptake of Ca in E-type plants may be due mainly to greater canopy transpiration as well as to possibly higher potential root absorption of water, as the Ca concentration of the root exudate was similar between the E- and I-type plants. The proportion of the total Ca uptake attributed to potential root absorption was lower for E-types than for I-types. The modern cultivar (C) had a moderate plant size, dry matter and Ca content but the best fruit yield. The incidence of BER was not always related to efficiency in Ca uptake among cultivars. While E₁ had a low incidence of BER, E₂ had a high incidence, which increased markedly at high salinity. I₁ had a higher incidence of BER than I₂, but was not more susceptible to salinity. C had low incidence of BER at low salinity, but this increased somewhat at high salinity. We concluded that neither Ca-efficiency nor a high Ca uptake are a sound basis for the selection of tomato cultivars for resistance to BER. The crucial factor is the ability to divert sufficient Ca away from the leaves to the trusses, and particularly to the distal part of the fruit.

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