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Salicylic acid induces physiological and biochemical changes in Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii seedlings under drought stress

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Abstract

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SA treatment effectively ameliorated the negative effect of moderate drought stress on T. grandis Seedlings through increasing the water content, Pn, proline content, antioxidant enzymes activity and reducing MDA.

Abstract

Water availability is one of the most critical factors that limits the growth and development of plants. Salicylic acid (SA) is an important signal molecule that modulates plant responses to abiotic stress. To elucidate the regulating mechanism of exogenous SA on Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii under different water stresses, a pot experiment was conducted in a greenhouse. Exposure of T. grandis seedlings to drought conditions resulted in reduced growth rate that was associated with a decline in water content and CO2 assimilation. Foliar application of SA effectively increased the water content, net CO2 assimilation rate, proline content and antioxidant enzymes activity in the plants, which helped T. grandis to acclimate to moderate drought stress and increase the shoot dry matter. However, when the plants were under severe drought stress, the relative water content and CO2 assimilation in the SA-treated plants were significantly lower than those in the control plants. Therefore, our results indicated that SA can effectively ameliorate the negative effect of moderate drought stress on T. grandis seedling growth.

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Abbreviations

AOS:

Active oxygen species

CAT:

Catalase

Ci:

The intercellular CO2

Gs:

Stomatal conductance

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

POD:

Peroxidase

Pn:

Net CO2 assimilation rate

REC:

Relative electrolyte conductivity

RWC:

Relative water content

SA:

Salicylic acid

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

Tr:

Transpiration rate

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Fruit Innovation Team Project of Zhejiang Province (2009R50033-7), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LZ12C16001) and the Major Project of National Spark Plan of China (2012GA700001).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nurturing Station for the State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A & F University, Lin’an, Hangzhou, 311300, People’s Republic of China

    Chaohua Shen, Yuanyuan Hu, Tingting Li, Hui Tang & Jiasheng Wu

  2. School of Forestry and Biotechnology, Zhejiang A & F University, Lin’an, Hangzhou, 311300, People’s Republic of China

    Chaohua Shen, Yuanyuan Hu, Tingting Li, Hui Tang & Jiasheng Wu

  3. China National Bamboo Research Center, Hangzhou, 310012, People’s Republic of China

    Xuhua Du

Authors
  1. Chaohua Shen
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  2. Yuanyuan Hu
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  3. Xuhua Du
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  4. Tingting Li
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  5. Hui Tang
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  6. Jiasheng Wu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiasheng Wu.

Additional information

Communicated by T. Koike.

C. Shen and Y. Hu contributed equally to this study.

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Shen, C., Hu, Y., Du, X. et al. Salicylic acid induces physiological and biochemical changes in Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii seedlings under drought stress. Trees 28, 961–970 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-014-1009-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-014-1009-y

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