Triacontanol regulates morphological traits and enzymatic activities of salinity affected hot pepper plants

Potential role of triacontanol applied as a foliar treatment to ameliorate the adverse effects of salinity on hot pepper plants was evaluated. In this pot experiment, hot pepper plants under 75 mM NaCl stress environment were subjected to foliar application of 25, 50, and 75 mu M triacontanol treatments; whereas, untreated plants were taken as control. Salt stress had a significant impact on morphological characteristics, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange attributes, MDA content, antioxidants activities, electrolytes leakage, vitamin C, soluble protein, and proline contents. All triacontanol treatments significantly mitigated the adversative effects of salinity on hot pepper plants; however, foliar application triacontanol at 75 mu M had considerably improved the growth of hot pepper plants in terms of plant height, shoot length, leaf area, plant fresh/dry biomasses by modulating above mentioned physio-biochemical traits. While, improvement in gas exchange properties, chlorophyll, carotenoid contents, increased proline contents coupled with higher SOD and CAT activities were observed in response to 75 mu M triacontanol followed by 50 mu M triacontanol treatment. MDA and H(2)O(2 )contents were decreased significantly in hot pepper plants sprayed with 75 mu M triacontanol followed by 50 mu M triacontanol foliar treatment. Meanwhile, root and shoot lengths were maximum in 50 mu M triacontanol sprayed hot pepper plants along with enhanced APX activity on exposure to salt stress. In crux, exogenous application triacontanol treatments improved hot pepper performance under salinity, however,75 mu M triacontanol treatment evidently was more effective in mitigating the lethal impact of saline stress via controlling the ROS generation and increment in antioxidant enzyme activities.

Automated summary

The potential role of triacontanol as a foliar treatment to mitigate the adverse effects of salinity on hot pepper plants was evaluated. The study showed that the foliar application of 75μM triacontanol significantly improved the growth and physiological characteristics of the plants, including plant height, leaf area, and antioxidant enzyme activities.