Abstract
Salt stress is one of the major significant restrictions that hamper plant development and agriculture ecosystems worldwide. Novel climate-adapted cultivars and stress tolerance-enhancing molecules are increasingly appreciated to mitigate the detrimental impacts of adverse stressful conditions. Sorghum is a valuable source of food and a potential model for exploring and understanding salt stress dynamics in cereals and for gaining a better understanding of their physiological pathways. Herein, we evaluate the antioxidant scavengers, photosynthetic regulation, and molecular mechanism of ion exclusion transporters in sorghum genotypes under saline conditions. A pot experiment was conducted in two sorghum genotypes viz. SSG 59-3 and PC-5 in a climate-controlled greenhouse under different salt concentrations (60, 80, 100, and 120 mM NaCl). Salinity drastically affected the photosynthetic machinery by reducing the accumulation of chlorophyll pigments and carotenoids. SSG 59-3 alleviated the adverse effects of salinity by suppressing oxidative stress (H2O2) and stimulating enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities (SOD, APX, CAT, POD, GR, GST, DHAR, MDHAR, GSH, ASC, proline, GB), as well as protecting cell membrane integrity (MDA, electrolyte leakage). Salinity also influenced Na+ ion efflux and maintained a lower cytosolic Na+/K+ ratio via the concomitant upregulation of SbSOS1, SbSOS2, and SbNHX-2 and SbV-Ppase-II ion transporter genes in sorghum genotypes. Overall, these results suggest that Na+ ions were retained and detoxified, and less stress impact was observed in mature and younger leaves. Based on the above, we deciphered that SSG 59-3 performed better by retaining higher plant water status, photosynthetic assimilates and antioxidant potential, and the upregulation of ion transporter genes and may be utilized in the development of resistant sorghum lines in saline regions.
Highlights
Salt stress is one of the significant abiotic stresses, drastically affecting global agricultural productivity [1,2]
With the increasing levels of salt stress from the control to 120 mM NaCl, a significant reduction in fresh and dry plant weight was observed among both genotypes at p < 0.05 (Figure 2a,b)
Soil salinization has emerged as a severe threat affecting crop productivity and the geographical distribution of crop plants [54]
Summary
Salt stress is one of the significant abiotic stresses, drastically affecting global agricultural productivity [1,2]. 23% of the cultivated land is salt-affected, which is comprised of approximately 3.6100 ha [3]. The annual loss caused by soil salinization in agricultural productivity is estimated to be USD 31 million, and the production potential of up to 46 million ha per year. Soil salinization alone has rendered significant chunks of land unproductive or less productive [4]. It is especially concerning since urbanization is shifting farming into more or less arid terrain, 30% of the cultivated lands would become unproductive due to soil salinization. The world’s food demand is expected to rise by
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