With the growing need for biofuels, Jatropha, a rugged plant with a lot of energy potential, is
being evaluated as one of the biofuel crops that can thrive in harsh conditions such as dryness
and salinity are common in arid and semi-arid environments. Salt stress is one of the
environmental factors that greatly limit crop development and production worldwide. The
objective of this study was to examine the effects of 3 NaCl salinity levels (0, 100, and 120 mM)
on the root morphology, shoot growth, antioxidative defense response, and gas exchange
parameters of stem cuttings of six Jatropha accessions (viz., A6002, A6004, A6008, A6007
A6011 and A6014) at 180 days after treatment (DAT) and 360 DAT. Jatropha accessions were
subjected to 100 mM and 15 mM NaCl treatment for 360 days. There was considerable variation
in the root system, shoot growth, and antioxidative defense response and gas exchange among these accessions. The root morphology parameters such as length, diameter, volume, and dry
weight were significantly affected in A6002, A6004, A6007, and A6008 accessions.
Moreover, the above accessions are sensitive to salinity as leaf area, shoot growth (plant height,
stem diameter and shoot dry weight), gas exchange measurements, and SPAD chlorophyll was
significantly decreased at 150 mM NaCl at 360 DAT. However, the accessions A6011 and
A6014 maintaining carboxylation efficiency incorporated no significant decline in the root
system, shoot growth at 150 mM NaCl at 360 DAT. Antioxidative defense enzyme activities
such as SOD, CAT, APX, GR, and proline levels were up at both salinity treatments. Still, MDA
levels were down in A6011, and A6014 accessions, indicating that oxidative damage was
minimized, and membrane integrity was preserved. A6002, A6004, A6007, and A6008
accessions experienced substantial oxidative stress at the end of the trial. Thus, we can conclude
that A6011 and A6014 accessions were more resistant to NaCl stress, whereas A6002, A6004,
A6007, and A6008 accessions were more sensitive.
Keywords: Jatropha, Stress, Salinity, Gas exchange, Antioxidative response
Publication date: 25/09/2021
https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2021/September/MS_IJBPAS_2021_SEPT_SPCL_1033.pdf
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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2021/10.9.1033
