Prohexadione calcium enhances rice growth and tillering under NaCl stress

Abstract

Salt stress affects crop quality and reduces crop yields, and growth regulators enhance salt tolerance of crop plants. In this report, we examined the effects of prohexadione-calcium (Pro-Ca) on improving rice (Oryza sativa L.) growth and tillering under salt stress. We found that NaCl stress inhibited the growth of two rice varieties and increased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, electrolyte leakage, and the activities of the antioxidant enzymes. Foliar application of Pro-Ca reduced seedling height and increased stem base width and lodging resistance of rice. Further analyses showed that Pro-Ca application reduced MDA content, electrolyte leakage, and membrane damage in rice leaves under NaCl stress. Pro-Ca enhanced the net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) of rice seedlings, while increasing the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and ascorbic acid peroxidase (APX) at the tillering stage under salt stress. Overall, Pro-Ca improves salt tolerance of rice seedlings at the tillering stage by enhancing lodging resistance, reducing membrane damages, and enhancing photosynthesis and antioxidant capacities of rice seedlings.

Application of prohexadione-calcium priming affects Brassica napus L. seedlings by regulating morph-physiological characteristics under salt stress

“…9 ). Several scholars have shown that foliar spraying of Pro-Ca can regulate crop growth and alleviate salt stress injury ( Feng et al, 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2023 ). Unlike these scholars, our study showed that Pro-Ca primed could also effectively promote the root growth of oilseed rape.…”

“…Pro-Ca may control wilt by thickening the cell walls of the thin-walled tissues of the cortex ( Wallis & Cox, 2020 ). Some scholars have shown that spraying Pro-Ca on the leaves of rice under salt stress enhances the resistance of rice seedlings to collapse and improves the salt tolerance of rice seedlings by increasing their photosynthetic and antioxidant capacity ( Zhang et al, 2023 ). Other studies have shown that Pro-Ca can effectively reduce the damage caused by salt stress and improve the salt tolerance of soybean seedlings by regulating the photosynthetic capacity, antioxidant defense capacity, and osmoregulation capacity of soybean seedlings ( Feng et al, 2021 ).…”