Effect of Salicylic Acid and Methyl Jasmonate on Stress Indices in Papaver bracteatum Lindl

Abstract

The Persian poppy (Papaver bracteatum Lindl.) is a perennial medicinal plant belonging to the Papaveraceae family endemic to the mountainous areas of Northern Iran. It is known for high amounts of the valuable benzylisoquinoline alkaloid thebaine. In this study, the effects of salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate elicitors on stress indices were investigated. For this purpose, three concentrations of salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate were applied in three different populations of Persian poppies. The interactions of population×salicylic acid×methyl jasmonate were significant (level of 1%) for chlorophyll fluorescence, ion leakage, malondialdehyde, and proline indices. The highest Fv/Fm (0.838) was observed in the German population with 100 μM salicylic acid treatment. The lowest ion leakage (20.51%) was observed in the Polour region population with 100 μM methyl jasmonate treatment. The lowest amount of malondialdehyde (19.36 μmol/g fresh weight) was observed in the Fil Zamin region population with 100 μM salicylic acid treatment. The highest amount of proline (6.29 μmol/g fresh weight) was also observed in the Polour population with 100 μM salicylic acid treatment. In general, salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate treatments were shown to improve stress-related indices. It seems that the best treatments by means of which to increase plant capacity to deal with environmental stresses are 100 μM salicylic acid and 100 μM methyl jasmonate in the Persian poppy.