Salicylic Acid’s Impact on Growth, Photosynthesis, and Antioxidant Enzyme Activity of Triticum aestivum When Exposed to Salt

Abstract

Recently, the application of salicylic acid (SA) for improving a plant’s resistance to abiotic stresses has increased. A large part of the irrigated land (2.1% out of 19.5%) is severely affected by salinity stress worldwide. In 2020, total production of wheat (Triticum aestivum) was 761 million tons, representing the second most produced cereal after maize; therefore, research on its salinity tolerance is of world concern. Photosynthetic attributes such as net photosynthetic rate (PN), stomatal conductance (gs), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), and transpiration rate (E) were increased significantly by the application of SA. Salt stress increased antioxidant enzyme activity; however, SA further boosted their activity along with proline level. We conclude that SA interacts with meristematic cells, thereby triggering biochemical pathways conductive to the increment in morphological parameters. Further research is required to dissect the mechanisms of SA within the wheat plants under stress.

Contribution of Antioxidant System Components to the Long-Term Physiological and Protective Effect of Salicylic Acid on Wheat under Salinity Conditions

“…Similarly, soaking wheat seeds for 15 h in 10 and 20 mM SA solutions had a long-term growth-stimulating effect, lasting up to 50 days of development [ 21 ]. Similar to our results, Azeem and co-authors found a growth-stimulating effect of SA on the 28th day of growth for wheat seeds treated with 0.5 mM and 1 mM SA for 12 h [ 24 ], while Alam et al observed a similar effect on the 30th day when seeds were treated in with 0.5 mM SA for 12 h [ 23 ]. The novel aspects of our study include the investigation of the SA-mediated regulation of leaf blade width and its impact on leaf area, the detailed analysis of photosynthetic pigments and antioxidant metabolism, and the evaluation of the field-level impacts of SA pretreatment on wheat productivity and grain quality.…”

“…This increase in photosynthetic pigments improves the efficiency of photosynthetic processes in the leaves [ 32 , 33 , 34 ] and enhances the antioxidant status of the plants [ 34 , 35 ]. In saline soil conditions, photosynthetic pigments were reduced, as observed in our study ( Figure 2 ) and reported in the literature [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. However, pretreatment with SA protects the photosynthetic apparatus of wheat leaves from the negative effects of stress-induced oxidative stress and enhances the efficiency of photosynthesis ( Figure 2 ).…”

“…Salicylic acid (SA), a phytohormone of phenolic nature, plays a fundamental role in regulating plant growth and development. A review of the literature data confirms the effectiveness of seed priming with SA in increasing the resistance of wheat to various stresses [ 4 , 6 , 12 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. In previous research, we determined that a concentration of 50 µM SA had a stimulating and protective effect on wheat plants [ 26 ].…”

Effects of exogenous application of methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid on the physiological and molecular response of ‘Dusa®’ avocado to Rosellinia necatrix

“…dissipation mechanisms related to the alleviation of oxidative stress, in line with their role in the plant defense response against pathogens and other abiotic stress [11,14,37]. However, although both elicitors induced a similar response at the photochemical level, gas exchange photosynthetic parameters were only improved by SA, which agrees with previous work reporting the enhancement of net photosynthetic rates (A N ), transpiration rates (E), stomatal conductance (g s ) and intercellular CO 2 concentration (Ci) by exogenous application of SA [38][39][40][41][42][43]. This enhancement of the photosynthetic capacity was not associated with higher chlorophyll content (i.e., SPAD index was similar in all treatments; [39]) nor to a differentially higher stomatal density [44][45][46], but with higher rubisco instantaneous carboxylation e ciency (A N /Ci), suggesting that SA stimulated rubisco activity rather than an increase in pigment content [40,47].…”

Effects of exogenous plant regulators on growth and development of “Kyoho” grape under salt alkali stress

“…SA stimulated the activity of antioxidant enzymes in plants. In response to salt alkali stress, SA mitigated the damage by increasing the levels of chlorophyll, glycine betaine, proline, total phenol, numerous antioxidants, and defense-related enzyme activities (Alam et al, 2022). The adverse effects of salt alkali stress on Xanthium sibiricum Patr.…”