Journal
JOURNAL OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATION
Volume 42, Issue 7, Pages 4048-4062Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00344-022-10865-1
Keywords
Medicago sativa; Salinity; Silicon; Proline; Plant development; Oxidative stress
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study aimed to assess the roles of proline and silicon in mitigating salt stress in alfalfa. The results showed that individually applying proline or silicon can alleviate the negative effects of salt stress on alfalfa growth, but the combined treatment had a weaker effect than individual treatments.
Salinity is one of the most deleterious abiotic stresses limiting plant growth and productivity. In the present study, we aimed to assess the interplaying roles of 20 mM proline and 3 mM silicon (Si) in the mitigation of salt stress (200 mM NaCl) in three alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) varieties: two Moroccan, Ouad Lmaleh (OL) and Demnate 201 (Dm), and one European, NS Mediana ZMS V (NS Med). Salt stress strongly reduced plant biomass, with NS Med being the most affected. A beneficial effect of independently supplied proline or Si in salt-stressed alfalfa plants was observed on dry weight and shoot-to-root ratio, photosynthetic pigments, ion content (phosphorus, potassium) and K+/Na+ ratio. In addition, stress indicators such as Na+, malonyldialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide were significantly reduced. Proline or Si treatment also led to higher superoxide dismutase and catalase activities. However, when applied together, proline and Si beneficial effects were lower than that of single treatment for almost all the investigated parameters. We conclude that application of either proline or Si provides beneficial effects in mitigating the toxic effect of salt in alfalfa and could be a promising way to improve alfalfa growth in salt-affected soils. However, combining Si and proline treatment do not produce any synergistic effects and therefore is not recommended.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available