Divergences in Hormonal and Enzymatic Antioxidant Responses of Two Chicory Ecotypes to Salt Stress1

Abstract

-Salinity is among the most common and severe abiotic stresses that drastically affects crop productivity all over the world. To evaluate the effect of salt stress on seed germination, early growth, antioxidant enzyme activity and ABA content of chicory ecotypes (Cichorium intybus), a factorial experiment was conducted at College of Agriculture, Shiraz University in 2014 based on completely randomized design with four replications. The treatments comprised five salinity levels (tap water, 3, 6, 9, 12 dS m -1 ) of sodium chloride on the ecotypes of Sefid Shiraz and Siyah Shiraz. The results showed that germination characteristics and primary seedling growth decreased in both ecotypes with increasing in salinity severity. The effects of salinity on radicle and plumule length as well as seedling weight were the same as its effects on seed germination. The effect of salt stress on antioxidant enzyme activity (especially catalase) and ABA content were significant which they were enhanced with increasing salinity level; the Siyah Shiraz ecotype performs better than the Sefid Shiraz under high salinity, as indicated by lower decrease in germination characteristics and primary growth and higher antioxidant enzyme activity as well as ABA content. These facts should be taken into consideration in the economic cultivation of this valuable horticultural and medicinal plant and this data would be useful for the crop breeding projects.Keywords: salt stress, chicory ecotypes, germination characteristics, antioxidant enzyme activity. RESUMO -

Overview of Witloof Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) Discolorations and Their Underlying Physiological and Biochemical Causes

“…Chicory is a member of the Asteraceae family, more specifically the Cichorieae tribe, which is typified by the presence of milky latex and homogamous ligulate capitula and includes well-known relatives such as lettuce and dandelion ( Kilian et al, 2009 ). Within the species, C. intybus shows a broad genetic diversity, harboring a wide range of different ecotypes and numerous cultivated varieties ( Lucchin et al, 2008 ; Ghanaatiyan and Sadeghi, 2016 , 2017 ). In accordance with their different uses, chicory cultivars can be divided into three subtypes, i.e., root chicory, leaf chicory, and witloof chicory, which show a clear genetic diversion ( Raulier et al, 2016 ).…”

Exogenous Gibberellic Acid Ameliorates Salinity-Induced Morphological and Biochemical Alterations in Portulaca grandiflora

“…Salt-affected soil reclamation is necessary because, on a daily basis, salt intrusion in cultivable land is increasing throughout the world (Ghanaatian and Sadeghi, 2016). Over the past few years, many methods have been tested to overcome adverse effects of salinity stress on plants, namely mycorrhiza inoculation (Beltrano et al, 2013) hydrogen sulfide priming (Christou et al, 2013), ABA application (Osakabe et al, 2014) and salicylic acid treatment (LI et al, 2014).…”