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5-Aminolevulinic acid ameliorates salinity-induced metabolic, water-related and biochemical changes in Brassica napus L.

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Abstract

A number of studies have established that plant growth and development in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) are hampered by salinity stress. Nowadays, researchers have focused on the use of plant growth regulators to increase plant tolerance against salinity. An experiment was performed to evaluate the effects of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA, 30 mg l−1) on Brassica napus L. (cv. ‘ZS 758’) plants under NaCl (100, 200 mM) salinity. Data presented here were recorded on two different leaf positions (first and third) to have a better understanding of the ameliorative role of ALA on NaCl-stressed oilseed rape plants. Results have shown that increasing salinity imposed negative impact on relative growth rate (root and shoot) and leaf water relations (osmotic potential and relative water content), whereas enhanced the level of relative conductivity, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, osmolytes (soluble sugar, soluble protein, free amino acid and proline) concentration, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and enzymatic (ascorbate peroxidase, guaiacol peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase) and non-enzymatic (reduced glutathione and ascorbate) antioxidants activity in two different leaf position samples. Foliar application of ALA improved relative growth rate (root and shoot) and leaf water relations (osmotic potential and relative water content), and also triggered the further accumulation of osmolytes (soluble sugar, soluble protein, free amino acid and proline) as well as enzymatic (ascorbate peroxidase, guaiacol peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase) and non-enzymatic (reduced glutathione and ascorbate) antioxidants activity in both leaf samples, whereas decreased the membrane permeability, MDA content and ROS production. Our results also indicate that osmolytes are preferentially accumulated in younger tissues.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (20632070, 30871652), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (2006AA10A214), the National Key Science and Technology Supporting Program of China (2010BAD01B04), the Industry Technology System of Rapeseed in China (nycytx-005), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation (R307095), the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province (2008C22078), and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.

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  1. M. Rasheed

    Present address: Department of Agronomy, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, 46300, Pakistan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Crop Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310029, China

    M. S. Naeem, M. Rasheed, D. Liu, Z. L. Jin, D. F. Ming & W. J. Zhou

  2. Weed Science Center, Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya, 321-8505, Japan

    K. Yoneyama & Y. Takeuchi

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  1. M. S. Naeem
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Communicated by M. Rapacz.

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Naeem, M.S., Rasheed, M., Liu, D. et al. 5-Aminolevulinic acid ameliorates salinity-induced metabolic, water-related and biochemical changes in Brassica napus L.. Acta Physiol Plant 33, 517–528 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-010-0575-x

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