Physiological responses to Megafol® treatments in tomato plants under drought stress: A phenomic and molecular approach

• Growth and productivity of tomato plants are significantly affected by drought stress.
• Megafol® biostimulant is largely used to attenuate the negative physiological responses of drought.
• Scanalyzer 3D, a plant phenomics platform, was used to investigate physiological parameters in tomato plants under drought conditions.
• Drought-stressed plants treated with Megafol® were healthier and more tolerant to stress, with an induction of genes involved in drought stress responses.
• Megafol® reduces drought-stress related damage in tomato plants.

Drought is one of the most significant abiotic stresses that limits the growth and productivity of crop plants. We investigated the physiological and molecular responses of tomato plants treated with Megafol® (Valagro S.p.A), under specific drought conditions. The goal was to evaluate the impact of Megafol®, a biostimulant composed of a complex of vitamins, aminoacids, proteins and betaines, in attenuating the negative physiological responses of drought. Tomato plants were grown in a greenhouse, and physiological parameters were collected using Scanalyzer 3D (LemnaTec, GmbH), a plant phenomics platform. Using this technology it is possible to dynamically study the effects of biostimulants, such as Megafol®, on plant development in terms of early detection of physiological plant stress responses. The results showed that drought-stressed plants treated with Megafol® were healthier in terms of the biomass produced and chlorophyll fluorescence, thus highlighting the higher tolerance to stress of the treated plants. The effects of Megafol® were also studied at a molecular level by analysing the induction of genes typically involved in drought stress responses. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of Megafol® to reduce drought-stress related damage in tomato plants.