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Foliar application of biostimulants affects physiological responses and improves heat stress tolerance in Kimchi cabbage

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A Correction to this article was published on 25 November 2019

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Abstract

This study investigated the effects of foliar applications, such as brassinosteroid (BR), methyl jasmonate (JA), salicylic acid (SA), and sodium nitroprusside (SNP), on the growth, yield, photosynthetic characteristics, and antioxidant enzyme activity of Kimchi cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) exposed to heat stress. Kimchi cabbages were grown in extreme weather growth chambers under controlled conditions (air temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation of the Daegwanryeong region, 37° 40′ N, 128° 32′ E). At 18 days after transplanting, Kimchi cabbages were treated with foliar application of biostimulants (vs. non-sprayed control) and exposed to heat stress (air temperature 30/25 °C) and mean daily air temperature under normal conditions (21.2 ± 1.6 °C day/night, respectively) for 5 days. The foliar application concentrations were 50, 100, and 200 nM BR; 50, 100, and 200 μM JA; 1, 2, and 4 mM SA; and 0.25, 0.50, and 1.00 mM SNP. At 38 days after foliar application, the shoot fresh weight of Kimchi cabbages treated with 200 nM BR was 2123 versus 1422 g plant−1 (control). The head weight and yield were the greatest with 2 mM SA treatment, which produced 3806 versus 2184 kg ha−1 (control). Heat stress induced a low photosynthetic rate in Kimchi cabbage, while foliar application of biostimulants enhanced photosynthesis recovery. During the 3 days after heat stress, catalase and peroxidase enzyme activities of Kimchi cabbage increased by 1.76- to 2.08-fold on average compared to the control. Results indicated that foliar application of biostimulants reduced physiological damage and enhanced the activity of the antioxidant enzymes, thereby improving heat stress tolerance in Kimchi cabbage.

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Change history

  • 25 November 2019

    The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake.

  • 25 November 2019

    The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out with the support of the “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture, Science & Technology (Project No. PJ012613022018)”, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

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  1. Hee Ju Lee and Jin Hyoung Lee have contributed equally to this work and co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vegetable Research Division, National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Wanju, 55365, Korea

    Hee Ju Lee, Jin Hyoung Lee, Sewoong An, Hee Su Lee & Chang Keun Choi

  2. Division of Smartfarm Development, National Institute of Agricultural Science, Jeonju, 54875, Korea

    Sang Gyu Lee

  3. Department of Horticultural Science, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 41556, Korea

    Sung Kyeom Kim

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  1. Hee Ju Lee
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Contributions

JHL and CKC performed the experiment. HJL analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. SGL, SWA, and HSL revised the manuscript. SKK designed the experiment, analyzed the data and revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sung Kyeom Kim.

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Communicated by Jun Gu Lee, Ph.D.

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Lee, H.J., Lee, J.H., Lee, S.G. et al. Foliar application of biostimulants affects physiological responses and improves heat stress tolerance in Kimchi cabbage. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 60, 841–851 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-019-00193-x

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