article · Plants
Soil salinity presents a significant barrier to global agricultural yields. This research examines how applying exogenous nitric oxide at concentrations of 50 and 100 micromolar helps protect wheat plants from sodium chloride stress. The treatment mitigated negative impacts on growth while boosting photosynthetic efficiency, chlorophyll levels, and stomatal conductance in both stressed and unstressed conditions. Treated plants accumulated higher levels of osmolytes such as proline and soluble sugars, preserving greater relative water content. Exogenous nitric oxide also up-regulated the antioxidant defence system, safeguarding membrane integrity against oxidative stress. Furthermore, it enhanced the uptake of essential nutrients including nitrogen, potassium, and calcium, while restricting sodium accumulation and lowering the sodium to potassium ratio. These protective physiological responses were accompanied by changes in gene expression, specifically the down-regulation of SOS1, NHX1, AQP, and OSM-34 alongside up-regulation of the D2-protein.
Soil salinity reduces crop performance and threatens food production worldwide. Identifying chemical treatments that protect staple crops like wheat against salt-induced damage offers potential strategies to sustain yields in saline environments. Understanding the biochemical and genetic mechanisms triggered by nitric oxide provides a foundation for developing methods that strengthen plant resilience to environmental stresses.
This study is early-stage research demonstrating that nitric oxide treatments can alleviate salinity stress in wheat. Agricultural chemical developers or crop protection companies could potentially explore nitric oxide donors as stress-alleviating treatments for farmers cultivating crops in saline soils. However, practical application will require further testing under field conditions to determine suitable delivery methods, cost effectiveness, and performance outside controlled experimental settings.
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Salinity stress is one of the major environmental constraints responsible for a reduction in agricultural productivity. This study investigated the effect of exogenously applied nitric oxide (NO) (50 μM and 100 μM) in protecting wheat plants from NaCl-induced oxidative damage by modulating protective mechanisms, including osmolyte accumulation and the antioxidant system. Exogenously sourced NO proved effective in ameliorating the deleterious effects of salinity on the growth parameters studied. NO was beneficial in improving the photosynthetic efficiency, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content in normal and NaCl-treated wheat plants. Moreover, NO-treated plants maintained a greater accumulation of proline and soluble sugars, leading to higher relative water content maintenance. Exogenous-sourced NO at both concentrations up-regulated the antioxidant system for averting the NaCl-mediated oxidative damage on membranes. The activity of antioxidant enzymes increased the protection of membrane structural and functional integrity and photosynthetic efficiency. NO application imparted a marked effect on uptake of key mineral elements such as nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and calcium (Ca) with a concomitant reduction in the deleterious ions such as Na<sup>+</sup>. Greater K and reduced Na uptake in NO-treated plants lead to a considerable decline in the Na/K ratio. Enhancing of salt tolerance by NO was concomitant with an obvious down-regulation in the relative expression of SOS1, NHX1, AQP, and OSM-34, while D2-protein was up-regulated.
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DOI: 10.3390/plants10081693
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