Comparative Studies on the Physiological and Biochemical Responses to Salt Stress of Eggplant (Solanum melongena) and Its Rootstock S. torvum

Autor: Jaime Prohens, Marco Brenes, Jason Pérez, Andrea Solana, Mariola Plazas, Monica Boscaiu, Ana Fita, Oscar Vicente, Sara González-Orenga
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Agriculture
Volume 10
Issue 8
Agriculture, Vol 10, Iss 328, p 328 (2020)
RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
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Popis: [EN] This study investigated the physiological and biochemical responses to salinity stress of Solanum melongena and its wild relative, Solanum torvum, commonly used as eggplant rootstock. Young plants of both species were watered during 25 days with NaCl aqueous solutions at the following four final concentrations: 0 (for the controls), 100, 200, and 300 mM. Plant growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments content, monovalent ion concentrations in roots and leaves, leaf levels of osmolytes (proline and total soluble sugars), oxidative stress markers (MDA and H2O2), non-enzymatic antioxidants (total phenolic compounds and total flavonoids), and enzymatic antioxidant activities superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase) were determined after the stress treatments. Salt-induced growth reduction was more significant in S. melongena than in S. torvum, especially at high salt concentrations, indicating a (slightly) higher salt tolerance of the wild species. The mechanisms of tolerance of S. torvum were partly based on the active transport of toxic ions to the leaves at high external salinity and, presumably, a better capacity to store them in the vacuoles, as well as on the accumulation of proline to higher concentrations than in the cultivated eggplant. MDA and H2O2 contents did not vary in response to the salt treatments in S. torvum. However, in S. melongena, MDA content increased by 78% when 300 mM NaCl was applied. No activation of antioxidant mechanisms, accumulation of antioxidant compounds, or increase in the specific activity of antioxidant enzymes in any of the studied species was induced by salinity. The relatively high salt tolerance of S. torvum supports its use as rootstock for eggplant cultivation in salinized soils and as a possible source of salt-tolerance genes for the genetic improvement of cultivated eggplant.This study investigated the physiological and biochemical responses to salinity stress of Solanum melongena and its wild relative, Solanum torvum, commonly used as eggplant rootstock. Young plants of both species were watered during 25 days with NaCl aqueous solutions at the following four final concentrations: 0 (for the controls), 100, 200, and 300 mM. Plant growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments content, monovalent ion concentrations in roots and leaves, leaf levels of osmolytes (proline and total soluble sugars), oxidative stress markers (MDA and H2O2), non-enzymatic antioxidants (total phenolic compounds and total flavonoids), and enzymatic antioxidant activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase) were determined after the stress treatments. Salt-induced growth reduction was more significant in S. melongena than in S. torvum, especially at high salt concentrations, indicating a (slightly) higher salt tolerance of the wild species. The mechanisms of tolerance of S. torvum were partly based on the active transport of toxic ions to the leaves at high external salinity and, presumably, a better capacity to store them in the vacuoles, as well as on the accumulation of proline to higher concentrations than in the cultivated eggplant. MDA and H2O2 contents did not vary in response to the salt treatments in S. torvum. However, in S. melongena, MDA content increased by 78% when 300 mM NaCl was applied. No activation of antioxidant mechanisms, accumulation of antioxidant compounds, or increase in the specific activity of antioxidant enzymes in any of the studied species was induced by salinity. The relatively high salt tolerance of S. torvum supports its use as rootstock for eggplant cultivation in salinized soils and as a possible source of salt-tolerance genes for the genetic improvement of cultivated eggplant.
This work was undertaken as part of the initiative "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing CropWild Relatives" which is supported by the Government of Norway and managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust. For further information, see the project website: http://cwrdiversity.org/.Funding was also received from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigacion and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant RTI-2018-094592-B-100 from MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 677379 (Linking genetic resources, genomes and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops; G2P-SOL) and Vicerrectorado de Investigacion, Innovacion y Transferencia de la Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Ayuda a Primeros Proyectos de Investigacion; PAID-06-18). Mariola Plazas is grateful to Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Social Europeo for a post-doctoral grant (APOSTD/2018/014). Marco Brenes is indebted to the Faculty of Biology of the Costa Rica Institute of Technology for partially supporting his stay in Valencia ("Fondo Solidario y Desarrollo Estudiantil").
Databáze: OpenAIRE