Grafting, an age-old agricultural technique, plays a pivotal role in modern agriculture, providing myriad benefits for both farmers and plants. This explores the documented advantages of grafting in tomatoes, emphasizing its impact on the epigenome of Solanum lycopersicum.

• Increased Harvesting: Grafting contributes to enhanced yields, making it a valuable practice for farmers.

• Stress Tolerance: Grafted plants exhibit increased tolerance to various biotic and abiotic stresses, a crucial factor for sustainable agriculture.

Historically, grafting studies focused on stress factors, but recent research has positioned grafting as a potential alternative to pesticide use, showcasing its economic relevance. In the realm of tomatoes, a member of the Solanaceae family, grafting is widely employed for commercial purposes and plant health.

Grafting, involving the fusion of plant parts, induces stress, leading to reversible, often heritable modifications in gene expression and phenotype. This connection between grafting and epigenomic changes prompted an exploration of the tomato epigenome.

The study primarily focuses on cytosine methylation changes, a key epigenetic modification. The analysis compares plants grafted with various rootstocks (I12, I14, I15, O3, and OPT) and a control graft with scion and rootstock of the same variety. The analysis assesses relative methylation in CG, CHG, and CHH contexts—genome-spanning sequences regulating gene expression. Utilizing the MCSeEd methodology and bioinformatic tools, the study aims to identify differentially methylated genes.

To comprehend the extent of alterations in the tomato epigenome and their influence on fruit development, identifying and studying differentially methylated genes is essential.

This README provides an brief explenation of the research's scope and objectives, offering insights into the intricate relationship between grafting and the epigenome of Solanum lycopersicum. Further details and findings can be explored in the thesis and relative presentation in this repository.

• Thomas Sirchi
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• Current university email : [email protected]
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