Abstract
Olive is considered as a moderately salt tolerant plant, however, tolerance to salt appears to be cultivar-dependent and genotypic responses have not been extensively investigated. In this work, saline stress was induced in four olive cultivars: Arbequina, Koroneiki, Royal de Cazorla and Fadak 86. The plants were grown in 2.5 l pots containing 60% peat and 40% of pumice mixture for 240 days and were irrigated three times a week with half-strength Hoagland solution containing 0, 100 and 200 mM NaCl. The effects of salt stress on growth, physiological and biochemical parameters were determined after 180, 210, and 240 days of treatment. Saline stress response was evaluated in leaves by measuring the activity of GSH and CAT enzymatic activity, as well as proline levels, gas exchanges, leaves relative water content and chlorophyll content, and proline content. All the studied cultivars showed a decrease in Net Photosynthesis, leaves chlorophyll content and plant growth (mainly leaves dry weight) and an increase in the activity of GSH and CAT. In addition, the reduction of proline content in leaf tissues, induced an alteration of osmotic regulation. Among the studied cultivars Royal and Koroneiki better counteracting the effects of saline stress thanks to a higher activity of two antioxidant enzymes.
Highlights
Environmental conditions may strongly impact plant crop growth (Kachaou et al, 2010; Feller and Vaseva, 2014; Pandolfi et al, 2017)
The Pn decrease in stressed plants started from 180 days after treatment (DAT), and the most significant impact was observed in “Arbequina,” and “Fadak 86” treated withf Pn compared to control, 100 and 200 mM NaCl and the plants of the same cultivars treated with 200 mM NaCl died at 220 DAT
In all the four cultivars considered in this study, Pn reduction in leaves under stress conditions was associated with an increase in Ci. This is in agreement with Chartzoulakis (2005) who reports that low and moderate salinity is associated with reduction of CO2 assimilation rate
Summary
Environmental conditions may strongly impact plant crop growth (Kachaou et al, 2010; Feller and Vaseva, 2014; Pandolfi et al, 2017). Plants under high salinity conditions are subject to significant physiological and biochemical changes, for example a marked decrease in photosynthesis rate and transport of salt ions from roots to shoots (Ben Ahmed et al, 2009; Anjum et al, 2011; Singh and Reddy, 2011; Goltsev et al, 2012; Abdallah et al, 2018). A major biochemical alteration, induced by other types of stress, is the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Gill and Tuteja, 2010; Boguszewska and Zagdanska, 2012; Ozgur et al, 2013; Bose et al, 2014).
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