Abstract
Salinity is regarded as one of the most harmful factors that impair yield production for most plants. Tomatoes are moderately susceptible to salinity since they suffer yield loss under saline conditions. Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation is a technique used to produce transformed plants for establishing hairy root systems. This study demonstrates a method for reducing salinity stress in tomatoes by mediated A.rhizogenes. Inserting the A.rhizogenes T-DNA genes into the plant genome significantly altered plant growth and increased salt resistance up to 8000 ppm NaCl. The expression level of the rolB and rolC genes increased 17- and 12-fold, respectively, under 8000 ppm NaCl compared to transformed plants grown in salt-free media. A key physiological response of the transformed plants to 6000 ppm NaCl was an increase in proline accumulation to 1.6 mg/g DW, when compared to 0.099 mg/g DW under non-stress conditions. There is a significant difference in the production of total phenolic between transformed plants, 218.7 ug/g in 4000 ppm NaCl, and non-transformed plants, 175.4 ug/g. ABA production correlates with the transformed plant's successful adaptation to salt stress and affects the expression of other genes like ASR4, which acts as a transcription factor that helps in increasing tomato resistance to salt stress. These insights have a significant impact on the current global situation, where soil salinity is the major constraint on agricultural productivity. Integrating the A. rhizogenes genes offers a promising direction for developing climate-resilient tomato cultivars.