Salicylic acid alleviates the water stress on photochemical apparatus and quality of Schinus terebinthifolia seedlings

Abstract

Water deficit adversely affects photosynthetic pigment synthesis, photochemical processes, and seedling quality. Exogenous foliar application of salicylic acid (SA) is hypothesized to contribute to photochemical regulation and increase stress tolerance. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of SA in alleviating the effects of water deficit stress on the photosynthetic photochemical activities and quality of Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi. seedlings. The seedlings were subjected to four regimes of water deficit: 0, 4, 8, and 12 days of water restriction (DWR), associated with the application of four concentrations of SA: 0, 50, 100, and 200 mg L-1 (via foliar spray; 10 mL per plant) during 48 days. Growth of S. terebinthifolia seedlings was adversely affected by longer duration of water restriction in absence of SA treatment. However, application of 200 mg L-1 of SA increased photosynthetic pigment levels, photochemical quantum efficiency in photosystem II, and absorbed energy conversion efficiency in seedlings under 12 DWR. The seedling quality was better at 7 and 12 DWR when associated with application of 100 and 200 mg L-1 SA, respectively. The exogenous application of SA contributed positively to pigment concentration and photochemical stability of photosynthesis, and it improved the quality of S. terebinthifolia seedlings subjected to long water restriction periods.

Salicylic acid on gas exchange and growth of Hymenaea courbaril L. seedlings under flooding

“…As for SA, the results of this study with H. courbaril differ from those in the literature, which reports that this phytohormone plays a role in metabolic regulation and alleviation of stress factors in the photosynthetic apparatus (Foresti et al, 2022;Santos et al, 2022b), as its application accentuated the reduction of A in H. courbaril seedlings.…”

“…It is observed that H. courbaril seedlings presented higher DQI values (0.43 and 0.45) when receiving 230.0 and 275.0 L -1 SA under control and flooding, respectively (Figure 5A), correlating with better aspects regarding their vigor when they received application between 100-300.0 mg L -1 SA in both water regimes (Figure 5B). According to Santos et al (2022b) the DQI evaluation is used to verify seedling vigor, as it combines information on the robustness and accumulation of photoassimilates, making it desirable to obtain higher values of this characteristic. According to Fonseca et al (2002), the minimum value should be 0.20, and the results observed for the H. courbaril seedlings were superior, indicating good quality.…”

“…According to Fonseca et al (2002), the minimum value should be 0.20, and the results observed for the H. courbaril seedlings were superior, indicating good quality. However, these values may vary with species, age, and ecological succession group, among other factors (Santos et al, 2022b).…”

“…Cultivation management techniques that can mitigate the possible damage caused by flooding on plant metabolism have been developed. Among the promising alternatives, foliar application of salicylic acid (SA), a phenolic phytohormone, can alleviate the negative effects of abiotic stresses by contributing to the antioxidant system, metabolic regulation, and plant growth (Saracho et al, 2021;Foresti et al, 2022;Santos et al, 2022b).…”

Does silicon and salicylic acid contribute in the morphophysiology of Schinus terebinthifolia seedlings under flooding?

“…mitigate the harmful effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Silva et al, 2019b;Santos et al, 2023). Moreover, it delays the degradation of protein D 1 and the functional damage on photosystem II (PSII), promoting electron transfer stability in reaction centers (Hou et al, 2019;Poór et al, 2019;Santos et al, 2022a). In the literature, 2 mmol of Si alleviated effect of water stress in Eugenia myrcianthes Nied.…”