Effects of continuous grafting on the growth and selenium accumulation characteristics in the post-generations of tomato

Abstract

Abstract To clarify the effect of continuous grafting on selenium (Se) uptake using tamarillo as rootstocks and tomato seedlings as scions, a pot experiment was used to study the physiological and selenium accumulation characteristics of progeny seedlings produced by continuous grafting in 10 mg kg− 1 soil. The results indicated that multiple grafting improved the biomass and soluble protein content of post-grafting generation. Chlorophyll a, b, and carotenoids were significantly increased by different numbers of grafting. In addition, POD and CAT activities increased with the number of grafting, but SOD activity decreased. Furthermore, the selenium content in the root significantly increased with the grafting treatments, with increases of 66.43% in the triple grafting, compared to the control. Moreover, the triple grafting treatment resulted in relatively high selenium accumulation in the root and aboveground parts, with increases of 74.48% and 14.29% compared to the control, respectively, which was beneficial for selenium accumulation in the progeny of grafted plants. However, the translocation coefficient decreased, inhibiting the transfer of selenium to the aboveground parts to some extent.