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Spermidine induces physiological and biochemical changes in southern highbush blueberry under drought stress

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Abstract

Drought stress is one of the main environmental stresses that have effect on plant growth and development. Spermidine (SPD) plays an important role in the defense responses to drought stress in plants. In this study, we investigated the effects of exogenous SPD on plant growth, net photosynthetic rate (Pn), antioxidant enzyme activities, chlorophyll, malondialdehyde (MDA) and phytohormone contents in leaves of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum ‘Misty’) seedlings under drought stress. Drought stress severely reduced the relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll, Pn, specific leaf weight (SLW), indole-3-acetic acid, gibberellic acid and polyamine contents, while increased relative electrolyte conductivity (REC), MDA, total soluble sugar and abscisic acid (ABA) contents, the activities of SOD and POD. Compared with seedlings without SPD treatment, SPD increased the RWC, chlorophyll content, Pn, SLW, SOD and POD activities and decreased REC, MDA, total soluble sugar and ABA contents in seedlings. These results signified the role of SPD in alleviating the negative effects of drought stress on plants and suggested that SPD could be used as a potential growth regulator for improving plant growth under drought stress.

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Abbreviations

SPD:

Spermidine

PA:

Polyamine

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

REC:

Relative electrolyte conductivity

ABA:

Abscisic acid

SLW:

Specific leaf weight

RWC:

Relative water content

Pn:

Photosynthetic rate

IAA:

Indole-3-acetic acid

GA:

Gibberellic acid

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

POD:

Peroxidase

Chl:

Chlorophyll

EBR:

Brassinosteroids

KCZ:

Ketoconazole

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31070604, 31270716 and 31470683); the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholar (LR13C160001); and the Fruit Innovation Team Project of Zhejiang Province (2009R50033). We would like to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions regarding the manuscript.

Author contribution

Xiaomin Chen and Lingling Qiu contributed equally to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A & F University, Linan, Hangzhou, 311300, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaomin Chen, Lingling Qiu, Yang Wang, Huwei Yuan, Daoliang Yan & Bingsong Zheng

  2. College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People’s Republic of China

    Haipeng Guo

Authors
  1. Xiaomin Chen
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  2. Lingling Qiu
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  3. Haipeng Guo
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  4. Yang Wang
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  5. Huwei Yuan
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  6. Daoliang Yan
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  7. Bingsong Zheng
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Daoliang Yan or Bingsong Zheng.

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Chen, X., Qiu, L., Guo, H. et al. Spermidine induces physiological and biochemical changes in southern highbush blueberry under drought stress. Braz. J. Bot 40, 841–851 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-017-0401-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-017-0401-4

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