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Effects of Brassinolide on Growth, Photosynthetic Rate and Antioxidant Enzyme Activity of Ornamental Gourd under Salt Stress

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Abstract

Salt stress has an important influence on the growth and development of gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.), and it is one of the abiotic factors that inhibit plant growth. As a plant growth regulator, brassinolide has a regulatory effect on plants under salt stress. In this study, “Yayao” gourd was treated with 85 mmol/L NaClstress to study the alleviation effect of different concentrations of brassinolide on ornamental gourd. The results showed that the concentration of brassinolide at 0.208 μmol/L under salt stress significantly increased the net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and chlorophyll content, regulated fluorescence parameters, and improved plant height, dry and fresh weight and root vigor of gourd seedlings under salt stress. Brassinolide increased soluble sugar content, decreased free proline content, promoted antioxidant enzymes (SOD, APX, CAT) activity, eliminated reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage, reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation, maintained cell expansion pressure, improved cell-environment osmoregulation, and inhibited membrane lipid peroxidation in gourds. In addition, salt stress increased the content of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and lignin, and brassinolide further increased the content, which alleviated the damage of salt stress. The above analysis showed that salt stress had a certain effect on the physiological indexes of gourd seedlings, and the appropriate concentration of brassinolide could alleviate the damage of salt stress on gourd seedlings from several aspects.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Natural Science Fund of Shandong Provi-nce (ZR2020MC031), The Open Project of Liaocheng Universtiy Landscape Architecture Discipline (no. 319462212), Liaocheng University Student Innovation Project (CXCY2023268).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liaocheng University College of Agriculture, Liaocheng, China

    F. Liu, H. Mu, X. Zhang, Y. Wen & X. Zhang

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  1. F. Liu
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  2. J. Yang
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  3. H. Mu
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  4. X. Li
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Contributions

Hongmei MU conceives and conceptualizes manuscripts, and visualizes and carefully supervises works and manuscripts; Fei Liuand Ju Yangco-wrote the first draft, and they are co-first authors. Xiqi Zhang and Xingyu Zhang conducts experiments and analyzes data. Xueru Li and Yingying Wen contributed to the review. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to H. Mu.

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Abbreviations: Pn—net photosynthetic rate; E—transpiration rate; gs—stomatal conductance, Ci—intercellular CO2 concentration; F0—minimal fluorescence; DIo/RC—heat dissipation energy; Fv/Fm—maximum photosynthetic efficiency; Fm—maximum fluorescence; PI abs—Photochemical performance index; psi(Eo)—rate of electron transfer; SOD—superoxide dismutase; APX—ascorbate peroxidase; CAT—catalase.

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Liu, F., Yang, J., Mu, H. et al. Effects of Brassinolide on Growth, Photosynthetic Rate and Antioxidant Enzyme Activity of Ornamental Gourd under Salt Stress. Russ J Plant Physiol 70, 137 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1021443722603202

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