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.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All experimental data are available upon request from Madiha Butt.
References
Afzal MA, Ahmad AA, Alderfasi A, Ghoneim M, Saqib M (2014) Physiological tolerance and cation accumulation of different genotypes of Capsicum annum under varying salinity stress. Int Acad Ecol Environ Sci 4:39–49
Ali Q, Ashraf M, Athar HR (2007) Exogenously applied proline at different growth stages enhances growth of two maize cultivars grown under water deficit conditions. Pak J Bot 39:1133–1144
Ashraf M (2004) Some important physiological selection criteria for salt tolerance in plants. Flora 199:361–376
Ashraf M, Foolad MR (2005) Pre-sowing seed treatment A shotgun approach to improve germination, growth and crop yield under saline and non-saline conditions. Advan Agron 88:223–271
Ashraf M, Foolad MR (2007) Roles of glycine betaine and proline in improving plant abiotic stress resistance. Environ Exp Bot 59:206–216
Athar HR, Ashraf M (2005) Photosynthesis under drought stress. In: Pessarakli M (ed) Handbook of photosynthesis. CRC Press, FLorida, pp 793–804
Athar HUR, Ashraf M, Wahid A (2009) Inducing salt tolerance in Canola (Brassica napus L.) by exogenous application of glycine beanie and proline: response at the initial growth stages. Pak J Bot 41:1311–1131
Athar HUR, Zafar ZU, Ashraf M (2015) Glycinebetaine improved photosynthesis in canola under salt stress: evaluation of chlorophyll fluorescence parameters as potential indicators. J Agron Crop Sci 201:428–442
Barrs HD, Weatherly PE (1968) A re-examination of the relative turgidity for estimating water deficits in leaves. Aust J Biol Sci 15:413–428
Bates LS, Waldren RP, Teare ED (1973) Rapid determination of free proline for water stress studies. Plant Soil 39:205–208
Ben Ahmed C, Ben Rouina B, Sensoy S (2010) Exogenous proline effects on photosynthetic performance and antioxidant defense system of young olive tree. J Agric Food Chem 58:4216–4222
Ben Ahmed C, Magdich S, Ben Rouina B (2011) Exogenous proline effects on water relations and ions contents in leaves and roots of young olive. Amino Acids 40:565–573
Butt M, Ayyub CM, Amjad M (2016) Proline application enhances growth of chili by improving physiological and biochemical attributes under salt stress. Pak J Agric Sci 53:43–49
Chance M, Maehly AC (1955) Assay of catalases and peroxidases. Methods Enzymol 2:764–817
Chen C, Dickman MB (2005) Proline suppresses apoptosis in the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum trifolii. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:3459–3464
Csonka LN (1989) Physiological and genetic responses of bacteria to osmotic stress. Microbiol Rev Mar 53:121–147
Cuin TA, Shabala S (2007) Amino acids regulate salinity-induced potassium efflux in barley root epidermis. Planta 225:753–761
Deivanai S, Xavier R, Vinod V (2011) Role of exogenous proline in ameliorating salt stress at early stage in two rice cultivars. J Stress Physiol Biochem 7:157–174
Faried HN, Ayyub CM, Muhammad A (2016) Salinity impairs ionic, physiological and biochemical attributes in potato. Pak J Agric Sci 53:17–25
Flowers TJ, Colmer TD (2008) Salinity tolerance in halophytes. New Phytol 179:945–963
Giannopolitis CN, Ries SK (1977) Superoxide dismutase I. Occurrence in higher plants. Plant Physiol 59:309–314
Griev CM, Gratan SR (1983) Rapid assay for the determination of water soluble quaternary ammonium compounds. Plant Soil 70:303–307
Hasanuzzaman M, Nahar K (2013) Plant response to salt stress and role of exogenous protectants to mitigate salt-induced damages. In: Ahmad P, Azooz MM, Prasad MNV (eds) Ecophysiology and responses of plants under salt stress. Springer, New York, pp 25–87
Hayat S, Hayat Q, Alyemeni MN (2012) Role of proline under changing environments a review. Plant Signal Behav 7:1456–1466
Hoagland DR, Arnon DS (1950) The water culture method for growing plants without soil. Calif Agric Exp Stat Cic 374:1–32
Hong Z, Lakkineni K, Zhang Z (2000) Removal of feedback inhibition of 1 pyrroline-5-carboxylase synthetase (P5CS) results in increased proline accumulation and protection of plants from osmotic stress. Plant Physiol 122:1129–1136
Hoque MA, Banu MNA, Okuma E (2007) Exogenous proline and glycinebetaine increase NaCl-induced ascorbate-glutathione cycle enzyme activities, and proline improves salt tolerance more than glycinebetaine in tobacco Bright Yellow-2 suspension-cultured cells. J Plant Physiol 164:1457–1468
Ignatova Z, Gierasch LM (2006) Inhibition of protein aggregation in vitro and in vivo by a natural osmoprotectant. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:13357–13361
Kaya C, Tuna AL (2006) Improved salt tolerance of melon (Cucumis melo L.) by the addition of proline and potassium nitrate. Environ Exp Bot 60:397–403
Khan WUD, Aziz T, Warraich EA (2015) Silicon application improves germination and vegetative growth in maize grown under salt stress. Pak J Agric Sci 52:937–944
Khan WUD, Faheem M, Khan MY (2015b) Zinc requirement for optimum grain yield and zinc biofortification depends on phosphorus application to wheat cultivars. Roman Agric Res 32:2067–5720
Khan WUD, Aziz T, Maqsood MA (2016a) Silicon: a beneficial nutrient under salt stress, its uptake mechanism and mode of action. Soil Sci Agric Environ Prospect. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34451-5_12
Khan WUD, Aziz T, Hussain I (2016b) Silicon A beneficial nutrient for maize crop to enhance photochemical efficiency of photosystem II under salt stress. Arch Agron Soil Sci 63:599–611
Kishor PBK, Sangam S, Amrutha RN (2005) Regulation of proline biosynthesis, degradation, uptake and transport in higher plants: its implications in plant growth and abiotic stress tolerance. Curr Sci 88:424–438
Lawlor DW, Cornic G (2002) Photosynthetic carbon assimilation and associated metabolism in relation to water deficits in higher plants. Plant Cell Environ 25:275–294
Le Rudulier D (2005) Osmoregulation in rhizobia. The key role of compatible solutes. Grain Legume 42:18–19. Soil Environ 35:56–64
Lehmann S, Funck D (2010) Proline metabolism and transport in plant development. Amino Acids 39:949–962
Liang X, Zhang L, Natarajan SK, Becker DF (2013) Proline mechanisms of stress survival. Antioxid Redox Signal 19(9):998–1011
Lone MI, Kueh JSH, Wyn Jones RG (1987) Influence of proline and glycinebetaine on salt tolerance of cultured barley embryos. J Exp Bot 38:479–490
Lowry OH, Rosenbrough NJ, Aarr AL (1951) Protein measurement with folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem 193:265–275
Messedi D, Farhani F, Hamed KB (2016) Highlighting the mechanisms by which proline can confer tolerance to salt stress in Cakile maritima. Pak J Bot 48:417–427
Munns R, Schachtman DP, Condon AG (1995) The significance of a two-phase growth response to salinity in wheat and barley. Aust J Plant Physiol 22:561–569
Okuma E, Soeda K (2000) Exogenous proline mitigates the inhibition of growth of Nicotiana tabacum cultured under saline conditions. Soil Sci Plant Nitr 46:257–263
Okuma E, Murakami Y, Shimoishi Y (2004) Effects of exogenous application of proline and betaine on the growth of tobacco cultured cells under saline conditions. Soil Plant Nutr 50:1301–1305
Ozdemir F, Bor M, Demiral T (2004) Effects of 24-epibrassinolide on seed germination, seedling growth, lipid peroxidation, proline content and antioxidative system of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under salinity stress. Plant Growth Reg 42:203–211
Rengasamy P (2010) Soil processes affecting crop production in salt-affected soils. Funct Plant Biol 37(7):613–620
Sabater B, Rodriguez MT (1978) Control of chlorophyll degradation in detached leaves of barley and oat through effect of kinetin on chlorophyllase. Plant Physiol 43:274–276
Sakr MT, Sarkassy EI, Fuller M (2012) Osmoregulators proline and glycine betaine counteract salinity stress in canola. Agron Sustain Dev 32:747–754
Shahid SA, Zaman M, Heng L (eds) (2018) Soil salinity: historical perspectives and a world overview of the problem. In: Guideline for salinity assessment, mitigation and adaptation using nuclear and related techniques. Springer, Cham, pp 43–53
Sharkey TD, Bernacchi CJ, Farquhar GD (2007) Fitting photosynthetic carbon dioxide response curve for C3 leaves. Plant Cell Environ 30:1035–1040
Subramanyam K, Sailaja KV (2011) Ectopic expression of an osmotin gene leads to enhanced salt tolerance in transgenic chili pepper (Capsicum annum L.). Plant Cell Tissue Org Cult 105:181–192
Wolf BA (1990) Comparative system of leaf analysis and its use for diagnosing nutrient status. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 13:1053–1059
Yan Z, Guo S, Shu S (2011) Effects of proline on photosynthesis, root reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism in two melon cultivars (Cucumis melo L.) under NaCl stress. Afr J Biotechnol 10:18381–18390
Zekri M (1991) Effects of NaCl on growth and physiology of sour orange and Cleopatra mandarin seedlings. Sci Hortic 47:305–315
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.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
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.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Communicated by Sung Kyeom Kim.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
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
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-020-00236-8