Salinity Stress Mitigation by Foliar Feeding of Salicylic Acid on Maize (Zea Mays L.) grown under Hydroponic Culture

Ali Ahmad,Alam Sher,Zubair Aslam,Muhammad Sarwar,Anser Ali

doi:10.35691/jbm.1202.0203

Abstract

Salicylic acid (SA) is mainly associated with the regulation of plant growth particularly in salinity stress conditions and this signaling molecule exists in pivotal parts of plant. The objective of this research analysis was to overcome stress condition by distinct foliar treatments of Salicylic acid, for instance, 0 and 100 mM. Foliar applications of SA on maize were rendered on 10 days later than transplanting under a hydroponics experiment. Plants were grown under non-saline (S0= 0 mM NaCl) and saline (S1= 100 mM NaCl) conditions. Evaluation of biochemical, physiological and morphological attributes of maize was rendered after harvesting of plants. The experimental layout of Completely Randomized Design (CRD) under a factorial arrangement with three replications of each treatment was assigned for this study. According to our results it was confirmed that cultivation of maize under saline condition reduced the morphological, physiological and biochemical attributes of plant. However, exogenous application of SA on maize had a positive impact on the above mentioned traits under presence and absence of saline environment. Finally, it was justified that exogenous application of variable concentration of SA significantly improves whole parameters of maize cultivar.

Highlights

Maize (Zea mays L.) is categorized into C4 plant species and it is a 3rd important cereal crop followed by wheat and rice (Araus et al, 2002)
Exogenous application or seed treatment of chemicals including salicylic acid, glycine betaine and kinetin may enhance the yield of various crops that will lead the enhancement of plant growth under stress induced condition and application of these chemicals mainly increase leaf area, chlorophyll contents, dry mass production, leaf area index and productivity attributes of crop (Khan et al, 2003; Elwana and ElHamahmy 2009; Karlidag et al, 2009)
Like other researchers findings of our study showed that chlorophyll content was significantly decreased by salinity and foliar spray of salicylic acid improved chlorophyll content

Summary

Introduction

Maize (Zea mays L.) is categorized into C4 plant species and it is a 3rd important cereal crop followed by wheat and rice (Araus et al, 2002) This cereal crop is widely grown for production of grain which is nutritionally consumed by human being and produce fodder as a dietary source for livestock consumption. Scarcity of water availability is most constraint issue that mainly causes reduction of crop yield and adverse effect on the majority of farmed regions all around the world. Plants correspond adversely under water scarcity and modify to salinity environment by distinct biochemical and physiological variations, involving phonological alternations (Golbashy et al, 2010).The accumulation of cytosol compatible organic osmolytes for instance, proline, betaines and polyols are associated in adaption of crop plants under salinity stress. Exogenous application or seed treatment of chemicals including salicylic acid, glycine betaine and kinetin may enhance the yield of various crops that will lead the enhancement of plant growth under stress induced condition and application of these chemicals mainly increase leaf area, chlorophyll contents, dry mass production, leaf area index and productivity attributes of crop (Khan et al, 2003; Elwana and ElHamahmy 2009; Karlidag et al, 2009)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion