Improvement of Cold Resistance in Rice Seedlings by 5-Aminolevulinic Acid

Abstract

5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) at low concentrations increased cold resistance in rice seedlings. The pretreatment of rice seedlings by root-soaking with ALA solution at 0.1-1 ppm reduced the ratio of leaf rolling and electrolyte leakage from leaf tissue after cold treatment. Thirty days after cold treatment at 5C for 5 days, the plants treated with 1 ppm ALA resulted in 85% survival ratio, 6.1 leaves per plant and 111.8 mg dry weight per aerial part of seedling, while 65%, 5.9 and 65.0 mg respectively in the control plants. The dry weight of seedlings treated with ALA increased 1.7 folds as compared to the control plants. These results are the first evidence that ALA has protective effects against cold stress in rice seedlings. Abscisic acid (ABA) and brassinolide (BR) also increased the cold resistance in our bioassay system. Protective effect of BR at 0.001 ppm against cold stress was similar to that of ALA. However, protective effect of ABA was different from that of ALA in terms of the ratio of leaf rolling after cold stress. ABA protected young leaves rather than old ones, while ALA and BR were more effective on the protection of old leaves.

Effects of exogenous 5-aminolevulinic acid on PIP1 and NIP aquaporin gene expression in seedlings of cucumber cultivars subjected to salinity stress

“…Exogenous low concentrations of ALA have been reported to alleviate the harmful effects caused by water-deficit stress to some degree, by increasing chlorophyll biosynthesis, photosynthesis, and cold and salt tolerance (Hotta et al, 1997;Hotta et al, 1998;Watanabe et al, 2000a). Recently, Zhen and colleagues found that ALA application can counteract the oxidant damage induced by salt in cucumber leaves and upregulated the expression of catalase and cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase genes in the leaves (Zhen et al, 2012).…”

Mechanism of growth amelioration of NaCl-stressed rice (Oryza sativa L.) by .DELTA.-aminolevulinic acid

“…14) Moreover, the amelioration of some environmental stresses by ALA has also been reported. [15][16][17] The resistance to cold stress in rice seedlings 15) and salt tolerance in cotton 16) and spinach 17) increased after ALA treatment. Seed germination of pakchoi (Brassica camprestris ssp.…”

Promotive Effect of Priming with 5-Aminolevulinic Acid on Seed Germination Capacity, Seedling Growth and Antioxidant EnzymeActivity in Rice Subjected to Accelerated Ageing Treatment

“…ALA is a biodegradable herbicide and insecticide, but it has promotional effects on the growth and photosynthesis of crops and vegetables, and is harmless to humans, animals, and crops (Sasaki et al, 1993;Hotta et al, 1997aHotta et al, 1997b. The compound presumably promoted the chilling tolerance effect in plants under low-light which suppressed respiration (Hotta et al, 1998;Wang et al, 2004), and improved tolerance to salinity stresses (Nishihara et al, 2003). ALA not only promotes the growth and yield of crop plants, but also acts as an alleviator of oxidative damage and enhances the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) to encounter radicals under stress conditions i.e., drought stress and NaCl stress (Nishihara et al, 2003;Li et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2011).…”