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Foliar-application of α-tocopherol enhanced salt tolerance of Carex leucochlora

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Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

Several different concentrations of α-tocopherol were applied to Carex leucochlora after plants had been treated with high salinity (0.8 % NaCl) in a greenhouse for one month. The results revealed that 0.8 mM α-tocopherol treatment showed the greatest alleviation of growth inhibition and cell membrane damage induced by salt stress. In comparison with NaCl alone, the 0.8 mM α-tocopherol application significantly decreased the content of hydrogen peroxide and the rate of superoxide radical generation, and increased the content of chlorophyll b, carotenoids, free proline, and soluble protein, but had no effect on the content of chlorophyll a and soluble sugar. These results suggest that α-tocopherol could effectively protect C. leucochlora plants from salt stress damage presumably by quenching the excessive reactive oxygen species to protect the photosynthetic pigments and by enhancing the osmotic adjustment.

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Abbreviations

Car:

carotenoids

Chl:

chlorophyll

MDA:

malondialdehyde

O2 •− :

superoxide radical

PPFD:

photosynthetic photon flux density

PS II:

photosystem II

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

TBA:

thiobarbituric acid

TCA:

tricarboxylic acid

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, 271018, P.R. China

    Y. R. Ye, W. L. Wang, C. S. Zheng, D. J. Fu, H. W. Liu & X. Shen

Authors
  1. Y. R. Ye
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  2. W. L. Wang
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  3. C. S. Zheng
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  4. D. J. Fu
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  5. H. W. Liu
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  6. X. Shen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to W. L. Wang.

Additional information

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Dr. Qian-Quan Sun (University of Wyoming) for critically reading of the manuscript. This study has been supported Fund of Shandong Province Modern Agricultural Technology System Innovation Team (grant No. SDAIT-06-07) and by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (grant No. ZR2011CM048).

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Ye, Y.R., Wang, W.L., Zheng, C.S. et al. Foliar-application of α-tocopherol enhanced salt tolerance of Carex leucochlora . Biol Plant 61, 565–570 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-017-0709-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-017-0709-8

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