Mitigating the Effects of Water Stress by Foliar Application of Salicylic Acid in Fenugreek (Trigonellafoenum-graecum L.)

Transcription

1 J. Chem. Eng. Chem. Res. Vol. 2, No. 12, 2015, pp Received: September 21, 2015; Published: December 25, 2015 Journal of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Research Mitigating the Effects of Water Stress by Foliar Application of Salicylic Acid in Fenugreek Hassan Abdul Al-Razak, Ali Al-Saady and Ashraf Sami Hassan Department of Biology, College of Science, Al-Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad10001, Iraq Corresponding author: Ashraf Sami Hassan Abstract: A pots experiment was carried out in the greenhouse of the Department of Biology in the College of Science-University of Al-Mustansiriyah, for the growing season, to investigate the influence of foliar application of salicylic acid of two concentrations (50 and 100 mg L -1 ) and meanwhile the control transplants sprayed with distilled water on growth and chemical compounds concentration of fenugreek plants subjected to water stress in three irrigation periods (2, 7 and 12 days). The experiment was conducted as a factorial experiment. Completely randomized design was used with three replicates, the statistical analysis showed lest significant difference was used at probability of p < 0.05 to compare between all means. Results indicated that effect of drought divergence from 2 to 12 days reduced significantly the average of plant parameters (plant height, fresh weight and concentration of protein and carbohydrate). Foliar application of salicylic acid significantly increased the average of parameters above, while the interaction between two factors studied was significant and exogenous application of salicylic acid had counteracted the adverse effect of water stress particularly 100 mg L -1 salicylic acid concentration. The water stress had inhibitory effect on growth of fenugreek plants and it promoted to the synthesis of proline, which often plays an essential role in maintaining turgor in plant cells exposed to water stress. Key words: Fenugreek, salicylic acid, water stress,greenhouse, chemical compounds. 1. Introduction Fenugreek is an annual crop belonging to the legume family, and it is commonly used as a condiment in food preparation for its nutritive and restorative properties and has been used in folk medicine for centuries for a wide range of diseases including diabetes [1]. Like many other leguminous crops, the productions of this crop are affected by environmental stress such as: drought, salinity and heat [2]. Drought (water stress) is the main a biotic factor that affects the survival of soil microorganisms and plant growth and drought stress has an adverse influence on water relations, mineral nutrition, metabolism and photosynthesis [3]. Water is one of the most important resources for agricultural production. In many parts of the world, water availability is economically and/or technically limited; 28 and of the Earth s land surface is considered to be too dry for crop production [4]. Water stress causes decrease in linear growth of shoots like: plant height, leaf area, percentage relative water content (% RWC), and fresh weight [5]. The responses of plants to water deficit are observed in forms of phenological responses, morphological changes, physiological alterations, and biochemical adaptations, such as changes in plant structure, growth rate, tissue osmotic potential and antioxidant defenses [6]. Water stress induces the generation of reactive oxygen species

2 940 Mitigating the Effects of Water Stress by Foliar Application of Salicylic Acid in Fenugreek (ROS) causing lipid peroxidation which leads to membrane injury, protein degradation, enzyme inactivation and the disruption of DNA strands [7]. Plants protect cellular and sub cellular systems from the cytotoxic effects of these active oxygen radicals through both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant systems such as, peroxidase, IAA-Oxidase, Catalase, carotinoids, ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol [8, 9]. Salicylic acid (SA) is a signaling or messenger molecule in plants and induces plant tolerance against various biotic and a biotic stresses [10], also SA plays an important role in the regulation of some physiological processes in plants such as effects on growth and development, ion uptake and transport and membrane permeability [11]. Exogenous SA alters the activities of antioxidant enzymes and increases plant tolerance to a biotic stress by decreasing generation of ROS. It has been found that SA has different effects on stress adaptation and damage development of plants that depend on plant species, concentration, method and time of SA application [12]. Some earlier reports display that exogenous SA can ameliorate the impairing effects of drought stress in different species [13]. The use of SA with concentrations of 1, 2 and 3mM on peanut under drought stress conditions, 50% of field capacity could significantly increase the performance of the plant [14]. The objectives of this work were to study the effect of water stress on growth and chemical compounds of fenugreek plants, and to examine whether the harmful effects of water stress can be offset by the exogenous application of SA. 2. Materials and Methods A pot experiment was conducted during the two growing season of 2013 and 2014 in the greenhouse of the Department of Biology in the College of Science-University of Al-Mustansiriyah, to study the effect of foliar application of SA on growth and water relationships of fenugreek cv. local under water stress. The treatments were as follows: SA concentrations: (50 and 100 mg L -1 ) and meanwhile the control. Water stress ( periods): (2, 7 and 12 days). The experiment was conducted as a factorial experiment. Completely randomized design was used with three replicates. The above has been growing plant seeds studied on 7/11/2013 and by 15 seed per pot and watered pots up to 50% of field capacity distasteful first, then has the irrigation process under periods above on the basis of loss of weight, and after two weeks from the date of agriculture passage was eased plants to 10 plants in each pot. The spraying process conducted SA concentrations above when the early morning twice after 45 and 55 days from the date of agriculture sequentially using the sprinkler hand, plant height (cm), fresh weight (g), protein (%) [15], carbohydrate (%) [16] and proline (mg kg -1 dry matter) [17] were estimated. 3. Statistical Analysis An analysis by the results statistically followed in the design and implementation of the experiment compared to the averages using the least significant difference (LSD) test at a level of 5% probability [18]. 4. Results and Discussion The results of the statistical analysis of the data in Tables 1-5 show that water stress, SA and interaction was significant at 5% level. The results indicate in the Table 1 that the presence of significant effect of water stress (irrigation periods) in reduced plant height, when spacing irrigation periods from 2 days to 12 days plant height decreased 12.65%. The reason is the decline in plant height to a lack of water content and turgidity potential and increase cellular juice concentration in plant tissue cells, also noted that the water stress leads to the inhibition of cell division process and decrease in mitosis and delay building DNA, leading to infiltration in the cellular walls and shrinking, and loss

3 Mitigating the Effects of Water Stress by Foliar Application of Salicylic Acid in Fenugreek 941 of cell elongation which leads to a decline in plant height [19]. As the table that explained sprays the plant with SA cause a significant increase in plant height, when raising the concentration 100 mg L -1 the increase 37.13% comparing the treatment of non-spray (control). The increase in plant height, perhaps due to the role of SA to increase the water content in the plant and raise the efficiency of photosynthesis and an increase in the concentration of hormones such as Indole-acetic acid(iaa) and reduction of the concentration of absiccic acid (ABA) and ethylene which leads to accelerate aging [20]. As for the interaction it has been significantly and reached the highest value in the irrigation 7 day period and the concentration of 100 mg L -1 SA, and the lowest value was in the irrigation period 12day and without spraying SA. Indicated the results shown in the Table 2 the presence of a significant decrease in fresh weight when irrigation period of 12 days by 49.59% in comparison with control. It attributed the cause of low fresh weight of the plant to increase water saturation deficit, as it is believed it leads to drought protoplasm cells due to a decrease in the viability of soil water and increased transpiration and the lack of absorption of water and ions especially nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and iron [21]. Either when sprayed SA concentrate 100 mg L -1 got a significant increase in character above and by 27.50% comparing the treatment of non-spray (control). It attributed the reason for increasing the rate of fresh weight of the plant to increase the influence of SA in proline which increases the osmosis leaves and pull the water, leading to reduced water saturation deficit and the increase in the relative water content [22]. As for the interaction it has been significantly and reached the highest value in the irrigation 2day period and the concentration of 100 mg L -1 SA, and the lowest value was in the irrigation 12 day period and without spraying SA. Table 1 Effect of SA, irrigation periods and interaction in the plant height (cm). periods (day) Table 2 Effect of SA, irrigation periods and interaction in the fresh weight (g). periods(day) The results show a Table 3 that an increase in water stress caused by the divergence irrigations a significant decrease in protein concentration for the periods irrigation 7 and 12 day rate compared to the period irrigation 2 days, the concentration of this element rate in the irrigation was 2 days 12.07%, down significantly when two irrigation 7 and 12 days to 10.50% and 9.27% sequentially. That the cause of decline protein concentration is due to water stress increase in the activity of enzymes such as Lipoxygenase and Protease and RNase and that work on the reduction of nucleic acids building and break ribosome [23]. Table 3 Effect of SA, irrigation periods and interaction in the concentration of protein (%). periods (day)

4 942 Mitigating the Effects of Water Stress by Foliar Application of Salicylic Acid in Fenugreek SA spraying reduced the harmful effects of water stress by increasing the protein concentration (Table 3). Treatment of spraying a concentration of 50 mg L -1 given protein concentration rate of 10.73%, while the treatment of spraying achieved a concentration of 100 mg L -1 SA highest rate of protein concentration was 11.50% compared with control was gave 9.70%. The cause of the increased protein concentration is due to SA role in increasing the concentration of nucleic acids and the inhibition of enzymes degrading (Proteinase, Peptidase and Protease) leading to proteolysis and activate the acid to produce kinds of protein with high efficiency to endure stresses osmosis [24]. As for the effect of interaction between irrigation periods and the concentrations of SA sprayed in protein concentration was significantly, and that the results of the statistical analysis recorded the highest value in protein concentration in irrigated plants a period of two days and sprayed a concentration of 100 mg L -1 SA gave 13.40% compared to the rest of the other treatments interaction, and the lowest the value of the character was in irrigated plants a period of 12days and without spraying SA gave 8.80%. Indicated the results shown in the Table 4 the presence of a significant decrease in carbohydrate concentration when irrigation period of 12 days by 32.48% in comparison with control. Due to the low carbohydrate water stress may work to close the stomata, accompanied by a lack of CO 2 installer resulting in reduced photosynthesis and lack of carbohydrate concentration, in addition to the inhibition of enzymes building carbohydrates [25]. Either when sprayed SA concentrate 100 mg L -1 got a significant increase in character above and by 66.06% comparing the treatment of non-spray (control). The increase due to the role of carbohydrates in SA increased leaf area and chlorophyll content in leaves and then increase the photosynthesis process to produce high concentrations of carbohydrates [26]. As for the interaction it has been significantly and reached the highest value in the irrigation 2 day period and the concentration of 100 mg L -1 and the lowest value was in the irrigation 12 day period and without spraying SA. The results in the Table 5 indicated a significant increase in the concentration of proline spacing irrigation periods, as it gave the irrigation 12 day period the highest increase of % compared to the irrigation period 2 days. Increase the concentration of proline due to water stress that leads to the decomposition of proteins stimulate the enzymes, amino acids such as Arginase enzyme which analyzes Arginine and its transformation to Ornithine then to proline acid by the enzyme Pyrroline-2-Carboxylate reductase [27]. Noted the same table SA significant effect in increasing the concentration of proline rate, when you raise the concentration of zero mg L -1 to 100 mg L -1 increased with proline content significantly rate of mg kg -1 dry matter to mg kg -1 dry matter, an increase of 38.10%. The attributed the cause of increasing the concentration of proline to the role of Table 4 Effect of SA, irrigation periods and interaction in the concentration of carbohydrate (%). periods (day) L.S.D.5% periods Table 5 Effect of SA, irrigation periods and interaction in the concentration of proline (mg kg -1 dry matter). periods (day)

5 Mitigating the Effects of Water Stress by Foliar Application of Salicylic Acid in Fenugreek 943 the SA as to the role of acid in the link with amino acids such as Arginine, one of the sources of production of proline in the plant when the plant exposed to water stress [28]. Table 5 showed clearly that the interaction between water stress (irrigation periods) and SA sprayed was significant and highest value recorded in treatment 12 days irrigation period and 100 mg L -1 SA. While, the lowest value is recorded in treatment 2 days irrigation period and 0 mg L -1 SA. 5. Conclusions The water stress had inhibitory effect on growth of fenugreek plants and it promoted to the synthesis of proline, which often plays an essential role in maintaining turgor in plant cells exposed to water stress. The adverse effects of water stress on the growth and chemical compounds of fenugreek can be mitigated by foliar spray of SA. References [1] A. Eidi, M. Eidi, M. Sokhteh, Effect of fenugreek seeds on serum parameters in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, Nutrition Research 27 (2007) [2] M. Almansouri, J.M. Kinetand, S. Lutts, Effect of salt and osmotic stresses on germination in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.), Plant and Soil 231 (2001) [3] D. Fall, M. Ourarhi, M. Missbah, E.N. Bakhoum, A.M. Zoubeirou, H. Abelmoumem, The efficiency and competitiveness of three Mesorhizobium sp. strain nodulating Acacia senegal (L.) Wild under water deficiency conditions in greenhouse, Symbiosis 54 (2011) [4] E.A. Bray, Genes commonly regulated by water-deficit stress in Arabidopsis thaliana, J. of Experimental Botany 55 (2004) [5] M.M. Abdalla, Morphological and physiological changes in two Triticiumaestivum cultivars differing in water stress tolerance, J. of Agric. Tech. 11 (5) (2015) [6] B. Duan, Y. Yang, Y. Lu, H. Korpelainen, F. Berninger, C. Li, Interactions between water deficit, ABA, and provenances in Piceaasperata, J. of Experimental Botany 58 (11) (2007) [7] M. Farooq, A. Wahid, N. Kobayashi, D. Fujita, S.M.A.Basra, Plant drought stress: Effects, mechanisms and management, Review Article. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 29 (2009) [8] S. Munné-Bosch, L. Alegre, Changes in carotenoides, tochopherols and diterpenes during drought and recovery and the biological significance of chlorophyll loss in Rosmarinusofficianalisplanta, Plants 210 (2000) [9] P.D. Awate, M.S. Patil, D.K. Gaikwad, Alleviation of oxidative damage by exogenous application of plant growth regulators on medicinally important oil yielding plant Simarouba Glauca Dc. under water stress conditions, Ind. J. App. Res. 4 (6) (2014) [10] E. Horvath, G. Szalai, T. Janda, Induction of a biotic stress tolerance by salicylic acid signaling, J. of Plant Growth Regulation 26 (3) (2007) [11] M. Simaei, R.A. Khavari-Nejad, F. Bernard, Exogenous application of salicylic acid and nitric oxide on the ionic contents and enzymatic activities in NaCl-stressed soybean plants, American J. of Plant Sciences 3 (2012) [12] A. Metwally, I. Finkemeier, M. Georgi, K.J. Dietz, Salicylic acid alleviates the cadmium toxicity in barley seedlings, Plant Physiol. 132 (1) (2003) [13] M. Arfan, H.R. Athar, M. Ashraf, Does Exogenous Application of salicylic acid through the rooting medium modulate growth and photosynthetic capacity in two differently adapted spring wheat cultivars under salt stress?, J. of Plant Physiol.164 (6) (2007) [14] M.A. Karimian, M. Dahmardeh, F. Bidarnamani, M. Forouzandeh, Assessment quantitative and qualitative factors of peanut (Arachishypogaea L.) under drought stress and salicylic acid treatments, Biol. Forum-An Inter. J. 7 (1) (2015) [15] O.H. Lowry, N.J. Rosenbrough, A.L. Frr, R.J. Randal, Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent, J. of Biol. Chem.193 (1) (1951) [16] D. Herbert, P.J. Philips, R.E. Strang, Methods in Microbiology, Acad. Press, London, 1971, pp [17] L.S. Bates, R.P. Walden, I.D. Teale, Rapid determination of free proline for water-stress studies, Plant and Soil 39 (1973) [18] T.M. Little, F.J. Hills, Agricultural Experimentation Design and Analysis, John Wiley and Sons, New York, [19] H. Marschaner, Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plant, Academic press, INC, London, [20] P. Yanova, Design, synthesis and properties of synthetic Cytokinin recent advance their application, Gen. App. Plant Physiol. 36 (34) (2010) [21] V.K. Jain, Fundamentals of Plant Physiology, 11 th ed., S. Chand and Company, Ramangar, New Delhi, 2008, p [22] A. Baghizadeh, M. Hajmohammadrezaei, Effect of

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