Abstract
Salinity is one of the abiotic stresses that affect crop growth and productivity in arid and semi-arid regions. Unfortunately, there are few known methods to mitigate the deleterious impacts of salt stress on the development and yield of vegetable crops. Blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) are endowed with the potential to curb the negative impacts of salt stress as they are characterized by biostimulant properties. The present work aimed to investigate the effects of Roholtiella sp. as a foliar extract on the growth characteristics, physiological and biochemical responses of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants under varying levels of salinity conditions. A soilless water experiment was carried out in a greenhouse where bell pepper seedlings were grown under five salt concentrations (0, 50, 200, 150, and 200 mM of NaCl). Growth characteristics, pigments content, relative water content, and antioxidant activity (CAT) were determined. Our results showed that growth parameters, relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll a & b concentrations under salinity conditions were negatively affected at the highest concentration (200 mM). Interestingly, the application of Roholtiella sp. foliar extract enhanced the plant growth characteristics as shoot length increased by 17.014%, fresh weight by 39.15%, dry and weight by 31.02%, at various salt treatments. Moreover, chlorophyll a and b increased significantly compared with seedlings sprayed with water. Similarly, RWC exhibited a significant increase (92.05%) compared with plants sprayed with water. In addition, antioxidants activities and accumulation of proline were improved in Roholtella sp. extract foliar sprayed seedlings compared to the plants foliar sprayed with water. Conclusively, at the expiration of our study, the Rohotiella sp. extract-treated plants were found to be more efficient in mitigating the deleterious effects caused by the salinity conditions which is an indication of an enhancement potential of tolerating salt-stressed plants when compared to the control group.
Highlights
Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) exhibited reasonable tolerance to salinity conditions when treated with Roholtiella sp. extract compared with water-treated stressed seedlings
These growth parameters were found to increase in the seedlings treated/foliar sprayed with Roholtiella sp. extract compared to the control group
We can conclude that bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) induced with salt stress at various concentrations (50, 100, 150, and 200 mM) was negatively affected and this impact can be minimized by foliar application of Roholtiella sp. extract
Summary
Are often responsible for poor crop production [1]. Salinity is one of the serious and increasing challenges mitigating optimum crop production the quality and quantity (yield) of the crop in arid and semi-arid countries [2,3]. Over 9.0 × 102 million hectares of land are affected by salination, which constitutes one-fifth of total cultivable land [1,4]. There is an urgent need for proactive measures to improve plant productivity and crop output under salination conditions to solve the problem of increasing food demand of 4.0/). The incidence of abiotic stress has been increasing lately because of global warming leading to the persistent rise in unfavorable weather conditions [9]
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