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Foliage applied proline induces salt tolerance in chili genotypes by regulating photosynthetic attributes, ionic homeostasis, and antioxidant defense mechanisms

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Abstract

Globally, soil salinity is a serious threat to horticultural crop productivity. Chili (Capsicum annum L.) is a major spice horticultural crop. Its growth and production is severely affected by salt stress. To address this problem, a sand culture experiment was conducted in which two contrasting chili genotypes ‘Plahi’ (salt tolerant) and ‘A-120’ (salt sensitive) were grown under salt stress (50 mM NaCl) with foliar application of proline (0.8 mM). Proline application enhanced salt tolerance in both genotypes by osmoregulation of sodium and potassium. It enhanced chili growth and fruit yield by improving plant water relations and gas exchange attributes under salt stress. Antioxidants were increased with proline application under salt stress. There was also a significant positive correlation found among glycinebetaine and proline contents. In conclusion, protein-treated chili plants performed better than untreated plants as evidenced by normal function of photosynthetic machinery and antioxidant mechanisms under salt stress.

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Data availability

All experimental data are available upon request from Madiha Butt.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are highly thankful to Dr. Aslam Pervaiz (Late) for his contribution and guidance in the whole experiment and we also acknowledge the financial help of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan to conduct this research under Indigenous Fellowship to Dr. Madiha Butt.

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Contributions

MB and AS designed the study. MI and AS managed the seeds and other inputs. TA and FK helped in conducting the field experiments. SU-A performed the statistical analysis of data. MRS wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Abdul Sattar.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Communicated by Sung Kyeom Kim.

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Butt, M., Sattar, A., Abbas, T. et al. Foliage applied proline induces salt tolerance in chili genotypes by regulating photosynthetic attributes, ionic homeostasis, and antioxidant defense mechanisms. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 61, 693–702 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-020-00236-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-020-00236-8

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