Exploring How Multiple Combinations of Abiotic Stress Affect Tomato Plants
Each year, various abiotic stress factors—such as drought, heat, salinity, and intense light—combine with unfavorable soil conditions often caused by human activities, including herbicide use, pH imbalance, or contamination by microplastics. These stressors together significantly reduce global crop yields.
If environmental degradation continues without mitigation, the stability of food supplies could be seriously threatened.
Research at Universitat Jaume I
A research team from the Eco-Physiology and Biotechnology Group at the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, led by Sara Izquierdo Zandalinas and supported by José Luis Rambla Nebot, investigates how complex interactions among stress factors influence the development and survival of tomato plants.
Their studies focus on understanding which physiological responses aid plant adaptation, as well as how metabolism, proteins, and hormones change under stress.
According to the results obtained and published so far, the effects of combining different types of stress are extensive. They impact photosynthesis, growth, and also the accumulation of proline, an amino acid that, while beneficial for stress resistance, could have an adverse effect under multifactorial stress.
Conclusion
The study highlights the urgent need to understand how multiple stressors interact in order to safeguard crop productivity under intensifying environmental pressures.
Author’s Summary: Research from Universitat Jaume I reveals that combined abiotic stresses drastically alter tomato metabolism, threatening yields and stressing the need for adaptive agricultural strategies.