Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations

Javier Lopez; Erika Cruz Mejıa; Manuel Fabian-Rojas; Lina Pliego-Marin

doi:10.31015/2025.4.40

Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations

Abstract

Tomato is one of the most important vegetable crops worldwide, valued for its nutritional and nutraceutical properties. To enhance its traits and improve pest resistance, grafting has been widely adopted, gaining popularity due to its multiple agronomic benefits. In parallel, agricultural biotechnology has generated genetically modified plants that serve as models for grafting, in which only one component—the rootstock or the scion—is genetically modified. In plants, the cryptochrome gene family mediates photomorphogenic responses to blue light. However, information on the function of CRY1 in species other than Arabidopsis thaliana is currently lacking. To investigate the role of Arabidopsis cryptochrome 1 in other plant species, transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) lines overexpressing an AtCRY1:GFP fusion under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter were generated. This study aimed to characterize the physiological and molecular interactions between rootstock and scion in two ´Cuatomatl´ morphotype genotypes (Solanum lycopersicum): a wild-type (WT) line and a transgenic line OXAtCRY1. The transgenic nature of the OXAtCRY1 line was confirmed by its phenotypic response to light: hypocotyl inhibition under blue light, reduced growth in adult plants, and increased anthocyanin and chlorophyll accumulation. Four treatments were evaluated: ungrafted WT, ungrafted OXAtCRY1, WT/OXAtCRY1 (WT rootstock with OXAtCRY1 scion), and OXAtCRY1/WT (OXAtCRY1 rootstock with WT scion). Results showed that ungrafted OXAtCRY1 plants accumulated the highest levels of lycopene, β-carotene, total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a, and chlorophyll b. For fruit quality traits such as firmness and °Brix, both grafted and ungrafted OXAtCRY1 performed best, whereas citric acid content was lower in OXAtCRY1 compared to WT. Interestingly, the WT/OXAtCRY1 graft exhibited higher total phenolic content. In contrast, pH and color index were not significantly affected by genotype or grafting treatment.

Keywords

WT genotype, OXAtCRY1 genotype, Transgrafting, Hypocotyl inhibition, Chlorophyll, Fruit quality

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Genetically Modified Horticulture Plants

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Javier Lopez ^*
0000-0003-0131-731X
Mexico

Erika Cruz Mejıa This is me
Mexico

Manuel Fabian-Rojas This is me
0000-0000-0000-0001
Mexico

Lina Pliego-Marin This is me
0000-0002-5653-7945
Mexico

Publication Date

December 26, 2025

Submission Date

October 16, 2025

Acceptance Date

December 2, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 9 Number: 4

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31015/2025.4.40

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA32WY54FN

APA

Lopez, J., Cruz Mejıa, E., Fabian-Rojas, M., & Pliego-Marin, L. (2025). Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations. International Journal of Agriculture Environment and Food Sciences, 9(4), 1405-1414. https://doi.org/10.31015/2025.4.40

AMA

1.Lopez J, Cruz Mejıa E, Fabian-Rojas M, Pliego-Marin L. Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations. int. j. agric. environ. food sci. 2025;9(4):1405-1414. doi:10.31015/2025.4.40

Chicago

Lopez, Javier, Erika Cruz Mejıa, Manuel Fabian-Rojas, and Lina Pliego-Marin. 2025. “Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-Type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations”. International Journal of Agriculture Environment and Food Sciences 9 (4): 1405-14. https://doi.org/10.31015/2025.4.40.

EndNote

Lopez J, Cruz Mejıa E, Fabian-Rojas M, Pliego-Marin L (December 1, 2025) Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations. International Journal of Agriculture Environment and Food Sciences 9 4 1405–1414.

IEEE

[1]J. Lopez, E. Cruz Mejıa, M. Fabian-Rojas, and L. Pliego-Marin, “Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations”, int. j. agric. environ. food sci., vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 1405–1414, Dec. 2025, doi: 10.31015/2025.4.40.

ISNAD

Lopez, Javier - Cruz Mejıa, Erika - Fabian-Rojas, Manuel - Pliego-Marin, Lina. “Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-Type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations”. International Journal of Agriculture Environment and Food Sciences 9/4 (December 1, 2025): 1405-1414. https://doi.org/10.31015/2025.4.40.

JAMA

1.Lopez J, Cruz Mejıa E, Fabian-Rojas M, Pliego-Marin L. Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations. int. j. agric. environ. food sci. 2025;9:1405–1414.

MLA

Lopez, Javier, et al. “Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-Type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations”. International Journal of Agriculture Environment and Food Sciences, vol. 9, no. 4, Dec. 2025, pp. 1405-14, doi:10.31015/2025.4.40.

Vancouver

1.Javier Lopez, Erika Cruz Mejıa, Manuel Fabian-Rojas, Lina Pliego-Marin. Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations. int. j. agric. environ. food sci. 2025 Dec. 1;9(4):1405-14. doi:10.31015/2025.4.40

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Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations

Growth and Fruit Quality Responses in Wild-type and OXAtCRY1 Tomatoes under Transgrafting Combinations

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