Growth and Biochemical Responses of Potato Cultivars under In Vitro Lithium Chloride and Mannitol Simulated Salinity and Drought Stress

Abstract

Globally, drought and salinity stress critically constrain potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production. Considering the impact of these stresses on crops and increasing food demand, insight into both tolerance and susceptibility is essential. The present study screens two potato cultivars, BARI-401 and Spunta, for their tolerance to simulated salinity and drought by in vitro LiCl and mannitol exposure. Plantlets treated with a range of LiCl (0, 10, 30, and 40 mM) and mannitol (0, 50, 100, 200, and 250 mM) concentrations were biochemically and physiologically characterized to assess their tolerance capacity. Shoot number, shoot length, root number, and root length were affected in both cultivars under higher LiCl and mannitol concentrations, even though Spunta was able to better maintain a higher shoot length under the 40 mM of LiCl and 250 mM of mannitol compared to BARI-401. The total phenol contents (TPC) in both cultivars were increased at the highest treatment concentration and the total flavonoids content (TFC) was decreased in BARI-401 as compared to Spunta. Higher free radical scavenging capacity (FRSC, low IC50 value) was recorded in Spunta as compared to BARI-401 with increasing treatment concentrations, which supports the high antioxidant capacity of Spunta. An inverse correlation between polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and TPC was noted in both cultivars. Peroxidase dismutase (POD) activity was increased significantly in both cultivars for all treatments, but activity was highest overall in Spunta. These physiological and biochemical analyses of both cultivars suggest that cultivar Spunta is more tolerant to salinity and drought stress. Further open-field experiments are required to confirm these results.

Physiological Response of Maize Plants (Zea mays L.) to the Use of the Potassium Quercetin Derivative

“…[ 91 ]. Depending on the tolerance and sensitivity of genotypes, differences in the expression level of antioxidant enzymes can be found [ 92 , 93 ]. In addition, phenolic compounds, being nucleophiles, can inhibit lipid peroxidation through their ability to remove free radicals and prevent damage caused by them [ 94 ].…”

How Do Plants Respond to Combined Drought and Salinity Stress?—A Systematic Review

“…Multiple research studies found that salinity and drought stress had an additive effect on dry-matter accumulation; thus, the two stresses coupled had a more considerable negative impact [ 54 , 55 , 56 ]. According to certain studies, salinity causes an increase in the concentration of NaCl, which results in a decrease in shoot length [ 57 , 58 , 59 ]. However, differing levels of water stress did not significantly impact shoot length, SDW, and RDW [ 42 ].…”

Global transcriptome and coexpression network analyses reveal cultivar-specific molecular signatures associated with different rooting depth responses to drought stress in potato

“…The Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and Germplasm Innovation at Gansu Agricultural University provided tissue cultured seedlings of C16 and C119 ( Table 1 ). Stem sections of potato test-tube plantlets were transferred to paper boats floating on liquid MS (Murashige and Skoog) medium containing 0 mM (control) or 75 mM or 150 mM mannitol (drought stress treatments) ( Hamooh et al., 2021 ; Sattar et al., 2021 ). After 15, 20, and 25 days of growth, the paper boats containing the tube seedlings were carefully removed.…”