Exogenous γ-aminobutyric acid improves the photosynthesis efficiency, soluble sugar contents, and mineral nutrients in pomegranate plants exposed to drought, salinity, and drought-salinity stresses

Abstract

Background γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), as a regulator of many aspects of plant growth, has a pivotal role in improving plant stress resistance. However, few studies have focused on the use of GABA in increasing plants’ resistance to interactional stresses, such as drought-salinity. Therefore, the focus of this study was to examine the effect of foliar application of GABA (0, 10, 20, and 40 mM) on growth indices and physio-biochemical parameters in plants of two pomegranate cultivars, ‘Rabab’ and ‘Atabaki’ exposed to drought, salinity, and drought-salinity. Results Under stress conditions, the photosynthetic capacity of two pomegranate cultivars, including transpiration rate, net photosynthetic rate, intercellular carbon dioxide concentration, stomatal conductance of water vapour, and mesophyll conductance, was significantly reduced. This resulted in a decrease in root morphological traits such as fresh and dry weight, diameter, and volume, as well as the fresh and dry weight of the aerial part of the plants. However, the application of GABA reversed the negative effects caused by stress treatments on growth parameters and maintained the photosynthetic capacity. GABA application has induced the accumulation of compatible osmolytes, including total soluble carbohydrate, starch, glucose, fructose, and sucrose, in charge of providing energy for cellular defense response against abiotic stresses. Analysis of mineral nutrients has shown that GABA application increases the absorption of potassium, potassium/sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, zinc, and iron. As concentration increased up to 40 mM, GABA prevented the uptake of toxic ions, sodium and chloride. Conclusions These findings highlight the potential of GABA as a biostimulant strategy to enhance plant stress tolerance.

Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid-Mediated Alkalinity Stress Alleviation in Lollo Rosso Lettuce under Diverse Light Spectra

“…The notable increase in PI abs following GABA supplementation further supports the notion that GABA positively influences the photosynthetic machinery, likely by facilitating electron transport or optimizing the energy conversion process, especially under stress conditions [38,39]. The observed effects of GABA on photosynthetic performance are consistent with previous studies that have explored the role of GABA in enhancing plant stress tolerance, growth, and yield [39][40][41][42]. GABA has been reported to act as a signaling molecule in various physiological processes, including stress responses, carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and modulation of ion transport.…”

Metabolomics Reveals Rubiadin Accumulation and the Effects of Methyl Jasmonate Elicitation in Damnacanthus major Calli

“…These results were consistent with the PCA results, indicating that these metabolites were located in the second quadrant of the PCA loading plot. Interestingly, both pyroglutamic acid and GABA are glutamic acid-derived amino acids that are used to increase plant resistance to abiotic stress [ 36 , 37 ]. In the third group, succinic acid, chlorogenic acid, and ferulic acid were clustered together.…”

Optimizing PGRs for in vitro shoot proliferation of pomegranate with bayesian-tuned ensemble stacking regression and NSGA-II: a comparative evaluation of machine learning models

“…RF overcomes the "dimensionality disaster" often encountered in big data scenarios that often other models fail to perform effectively. Additionally, RF demonstrates comparable error rates to other methods across various learning tasks (2)…”

“…Over the past decade, the pomegranate tree (Punica granatum L.) has attained significant attention as an economically super fruit cultivated throughout the world, particularly in the arid and semiarid regions. This is due to its high medicinal effects, rich content of bioactive compounds such as antioxidant polyphenol, and numerous health advantages [1,2]. Traditional methods of propagating pomegranates include sexual propagation through seeds and vegetative methods.…”