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Nitric oxide mitigates salt stress effects of pepper seedlings by altering nutrient uptake, enzyme activity and osmolyte accumulation

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Abstract

This study was planned to evaluate the role of exogenous application of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a NO donor, on the deleterious effect of salinity in Capsicum annum L. seedlings. Different NO doses (0, 50, 100 and 150 µM SNP) were foliarly applied to pepper seedlings grown under the non-saline and saline conditions (50, 100 and 150 mM of NaCl). The photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (gs), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), transpiration rate (Tr), mineral element (Zn, Fe, B, K, Ca and Mg) uptake, plant growth and leaf relative water content (LRWC) were decreased by NaCl treatment, but NO treatments generally improved the observed parameters. 150 mM NaCl treatment caused overaccumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) by 87 and 100% respectively as compared to control. However, NO application (150 µM SNP) at 150 mM of NaCl significantly decreased H2O2 and MDA to 34 and 54%, respectively. The present study clarified that the exogenous NO treatment supported pepper seedlings against salinity stress by regulating the mineral nutrient uptake, antioxidant enzyme activity, osmolyte accumulation, and improving the LRWC and photosynthetic activity.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate Atatürk University, Scientific Research Projects Foundation for generous financial support (Project Number 2015/161).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Atatürk University, 25240, Erzurum, Turkey

    Mostafakamal Shams, Melek Ekinci, Raziye Kul & Ertan Yildirim

  2. Department of Agricultural Structures and Irrigation, Faculty of Agriculture, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey

    Selda Ors

  3. Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Engineering Faculty, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Metin Turan

  4. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Atatürk University, 25240, Erzurum, Turkey

    Guleray Agar

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  1. Mostafakamal Shams
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Correspondence to Ertan Yildirim.

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Shams, M., Ekinci, M., Ors, S. et al. Nitric oxide mitigates salt stress effects of pepper seedlings by altering nutrient uptake, enzyme activity and osmolyte accumulation. Physiol Mol Biol Plants 25, 1149–1161 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-019-00692-2

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