Tohoku University in Japan said on the 19th that a research team at the university improved the drought resistance of tomatoes by grafting the same variety and cutting off the plants before connecting them together. Northeastern University released a press release saying that Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae crops usually rely on grafting to improve their quality. Grafting is often carried out between different varieties. Generally, varieties with strong nutrient absorption and disease resistance are selected as rootstocks, while varieties with good fruit quality are used as panicles. The team from the Life Science Research Department of the graduate school of the university used a method called "self grafting" to treat tomato plants, which involves grafting the same variety of tomatoes or cutting the tomato plants and then connecting them together. The tomatoes treated in this way took root after 3 weeks, and then the researchers gave them 12 days of water deprivation for drought resistance pressure testing. As a control group, the same variety of tomatoes without grafting were restored to watering after 12 days, with a survival rate of only 20%; Using this variety as a spike and other varieties with stronger nutrient absorption ability as rootstocks for grafting, the survival rate reaches 100%; The survival rate of tomatoes treated with self grafting also reached about 60%. After analyzing the changes in gene expression and other aspects after self grafting, researchers found that methylation of chromosomal histones and DNA occurred in the meristem of the plant, resulting in changes in the expression of a large number of genes, including those related to plant drought resistance. The plant achieved higher drought resistance, and the influence of self grafting can still be inherited by offspring. The bulletin said that grafting is a method of crop quality improvement with a long history. This study confirmed that not only interspecific grafting can achieve this goal, but also the wound healing process of self grafted plants will change the plant Epigenome, and the effect can be sustained. This provides a new perspective for traditional grafting techniques. Researchers plan to investigate whether the same phenomenon will occur in plants other than tomatoes in the future. The results of this study have been published in the new issue of the British academic journal of genetics, DNA Research. (New News Agency)