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Exogenous brassinosteroids increases tolerance to shading by altering stress responses in mung bean (Vigna radiata L.)

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Abstract

Plant steroidal hormones, brassinosteroids, play a key role in various developmental processes of plants and the adaptation to various environmental stresses. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of exogenous 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) application on the morphology, photosynthetic characteristics, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, photosynthetic enzymes activities, and endogenous hormone content of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) leaves under shading stress environment. Two mung bean cultivars, Xilv 1 and Yulv 1, were tested. The results showed that all of the investigated data were significantly affected by shading stress; however, foliar application of EBR increased the net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and decreased intercellular CO2 concentration of mung bean leaves under shading condition. Increased photosynthetic capacity in EBR-treated leaves was accompanied by improvement in higher photosynthetic enzymes activities. EBR-treated leaves exhibited more quantum yield of PSII electron transport and efficiency of energy capture than the control, which was mainly due to clearer leaf anatomical structure such as palisade tissues and spongy tissues, further resulting in altered plant morphological characteristics. Moreover, the treatment with EBL regulated the endogenous hormone content, including the decreased gibberellins and increased brassinolide, although to different levels. Combined with the morphological and physiological responses, we concluded that exogenous EBR treatment is beneficial to enhancing plant tolerance to shading stress and mitigating injure from weak light. The modifications of the physiological metabolism through EBR application may be a potential strategy to weaken shading stress in the future sustainable agricultural production.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by the Shaanxi Province Key Research and Development Project (2018TSCXL-NY-03-01), Minor Grain Crops Research and Development System of Shaanxi Province (NYKJ-2018-YL19), and Shaanxi Province Agricultural Collaborative Innovation and Extension Alliance Project (LMZD201803).

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  1. College of Agronomy, Shenyang Agricultural University, No. 120 Dongling Road, Shenyang, 110866, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China

    Chunjuan Liu, Yufei Zhou, Chang Liu & Xiangwei Gong

  2. State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas/College of Agronomy, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Baili Feng & Xiangwei Gong

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  1. Chunjuan Liu
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CL, YZ, CL, and XG performed the experiment, analyzed the data, and completed the manuscript writing. BF and XG designed the experimental plan and edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiangwei Gong.

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Liu, C., Feng, B., Zhou, Y. et al. Exogenous brassinosteroids increases tolerance to shading by altering stress responses in mung bean (Vigna radiata L.). Photosynth Res 151, 279–294 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-021-00887-3

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