Cysteine mitigates the effect of NaCl salt toxicity in flax (Linum usitatissimum L) plants by modulating antioxidant systems

Abstract

Agriculture, the main water-consuming factor, faces a global water scarcity crisis. Saline water is an alternative water source, while excess NaCl decreases plant growth and productivity of crops. L-cysteine (Cys) is a promising thiol amino acid in plant growth and development. Flax; Linum usitatissimum L. is an economical plant with low salt tolerance. NaCl salt stress at 50 and 100 mM inhibited the growth parameters, the photosynthetic pigments, total soluble sugars, total phenols, and amino nitrogen in flax plants. Salt stress led to a marked rise in proline and lipid peroxidation and altered the protein profile. Foliar application of cysteine at 0.8 and 1.6 mM mitigates the unfriendly effects of NaCl stress on flax plants. Cysteine enhanced the growth traits, photosynthetic pigments, amino nitrogen, total phenols, and new polypeptides in NaCl-stressed plants. However, cysteine declined the total sugars, proline, the activity of peroxidase, and ascorbate peroxidase. The results confirmed that cysteine had reductant properties. Furthermore, it decreased the NaCl oxidative stress and maintained the stability of membranes by lowering lipid peroxidation. Overall, the redox capacity of L-cysteine is the cause behind its potential counteracting of the adverse effects of NaCl toxicity on the growth of flax plants.

Integrated Transcriptome and Metabolome Analysis of Salinity Tolerance in Response to Foliar Application of β-Alanine in Cotton Seedlings

“…GR and Cys are considered as significant elements of antioxidant machinery that plants utilize against abiotic stresses as this enzyme catalyzes the reduction reaction of glutathione disulfide to glutathione and NADPH oxidation [ 69 , 125 ]. These reactions are eminent in maintaining redox balance within plant cells [ 69 , 70 , 126 ]. Thus, it implies that treatment with β-alanine enhanced the positive regulation of GR and Cys, which helped to maintain ROS balance inside the cell by mitigating oxidative stress damage.…”

Metabolomics targets tissue-specific responses in alleviating the negative effects of salinity in tef (Eragrostis tef) during germination

“…Accumulation of amino acids in soya bean has been reported to act as buffering compounds in attenuating the effect of salinity (Abd El-Azeiz et al 2021 ). Cysteine has a role in activating antioxidant mechanisms involving glutathione and, moreover, the cysteine also minimizes the impact of abiotic stress in crops (Hussein and Alshammari 2022 ). In the shoots of salt-stressed plants, the levels of glutathione were high as the product of cysteine metabolism (Bakhoum et al 2019 ).…”

“…In Dessie germinated under control and salinity conditions, the accumulation of the amino acids was low such that the salt-stressed shoot was clustered with the control group. Low amino-N content in salt-stressed flax plants has suggested the down-regulation of protein synthesis (Hussein and Alshammari 2022 ). Also, Dessie is a developed USA variety for high forage quality and has adaptability to drought as well as wet soils, so we predict that differential responses of amino acids observed in Dessie could be genotype specific (Saylor et al 2021 ).…”

Effects of Seed Priming and Foliar Treatment with Ascorbate, Cysteine, and Triacontanol on Canola (Brassica napus L.) under Field Conditions

“…As an antioxidant, Cys can inactivate reactive oxygen species and protect enzymes from oxidative inactivation and, thus, protect cells from oxidative damage [18]. Cysteine has reductant properties, enhances photosynthetic pigments and growth characteristics, and reduces oxidative stress caused by NaCl [19]. The antioxidant enzymes' activity can be increased by cysteine in small concentrations in seed treatment and foliar application [20].…”