Sequential Antioxidants Foliar Application Can Alleviate Negative Consequences of Salinity Stress in Vicia faba L.

Abstract

Salinity is one of the most limiting abiotic stresses in agricultural productivity. Exogenously applied antioxidants successfully enabled salt-stressed plants to cope with stress. Two-season field experiments were conducted consecutively in 2016/17 and 2017/18 to study the effects of foliar applications of singular (ascorbate, AsA; proline, Pro; and glutathione, GSH) or sequential (AsA-Pro-GSH and GSH-Pro-AsA) antioxidants on growth, yield, physio-biochemical attributes, and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidative defense system of Vicia faba L. (CV. Sakha-1) plants grown under saline soil conditions (EC = 4.53 dS m−1). Under soil salinity conditions, AsA, Pro, or GSH-Pro-ASA improved growth and productivity, photosynthesis efficiency, stomatal conductance (gs), plant water status, as well as enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. However, sequential AsA-Pro-GSH foliar application followed by singular GSH significantly exceeded all other treatments (i.e., AsA, Pro, and GSH-Pro-AsA), improving growth characteristics (shoot length, shoot fresh and dry weights, and leaves area), photosynthesis efficiency, stomatal conductance, plant water status, and yield and its components (green pods weight/plant−1, green pods yield/hectare−1, and seed yield/hectare−1), as well as enzymatic (ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione reductase) and non-enzymatic (AsA, GSH, Pro, phenolic aglycone, phenolic glycosides) antioxidants compared to control. Overall, our results clearly demonstrate that sequential AsA-Pro-GSH foliar application has a positive effect on salt-stressed Vicia faba plants.

Mitigation of Environmental Stress-Impacts in Plants: Role of Sole and Combinatory Exogenous Application of Glutathione

“…Interestingly, the sequential combination of AsA-Pro-GSH showed the best growth and highest yield, followed by a single application of GSH, a sequential combination of GSH-Pro-AsA, a single application of AsA and Pro. The successful amelioration of ionic and osmotic stress induced by salinity stress was highly correlated to the best photosynthetic parameters such as chlorophyll content, stomatal conductance, and Fv/Fm, the best improvement in leaf relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI) and water use efficiency (WUE), the highest content of AsA and GSH ( Semida et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Given their benefits, several research studies on the sequential combined application of GSH, AsA and Pro were carried out in recent years to investigate the effects of combined antioxidants against abiotic stresses like drought, salinity, and metal toxicity ( Semida et al, 2018 ; El-Beltagi et al, 2020 ; Seleiman et al, 2020 ). For instance, Semida et al (2021) investigated the effects of not just combined but the different sequential applications of GSH, AsA and Pro, on Faba beans ( Vicia faba L.) in mitigating salinity stress (4.53 dS m −1 ). Interestingly, the sequential combination of AsA-Pro-GSH showed the best growth and highest yield, followed by a single application of GSH, a sequential combination of GSH-Pro-AsA, a single application of AsA and Pro.…”

Impact on plant productivity under low-fertility sandy soil in arid environment by revitalization of lentil roots

“…Furthermore, the plant growth regulators as butyric acid (BA), gibberellic acid (GA 3 ), and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) promote impacts on roots, particularly under environmental stresses ( Egamberdieva et al, 2017 ; Sabagh et al, 2021 ; ElShamey et al, 2022 ). Growth regulators enhance root initiation, cell division, cell elongation, cell differentiation, vascular tissue, and apical dominance ( Singh, 2010 ; Semida et al, 2021 ).…”

Unravelling Synergistic Effects of Palm Bunch Ash and Glutathione on Plant Growth

“…The biosynthesis of GSH is usually induced by abiotic stresses but could be possibly inhibited under extreme stress conditions. Hence, recent studies have been focused on the exogenous application of GSH on plants via foliar spray or seed soaking, to overcome the deficiency of endogenous GSH during extreme stresses, and this has proven successful [6][7][8][9][10]. Under stressed conditions, exogenous GSH play key roles in increasing the reduced antioxidant levels, enzymatic activities, and photosynthetic activities, effectively reducing the oxidative damage, and alleviating any toxicity imposed on the plants [7,11].…”