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. 2020 Jan 14;9(1):104.
doi: 10.3390/plants9010104.

Exogenously Applied Ascorbic Acid-Mediated Changes in Osmoprotection and Oxidative Defense System Enhanced Water Stress Tolerance in Different Cultivars of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorious L.)

Ayesha Farooq  1 , Shazia Anwer Bukhari  2 , Nudrat A Akram  2 , Muhammad Ashraf  3 , Leonard Wijaya  4 , Mohammed Nasser Alyemeni  4 , Parvaiz Ahmad  4   5
Affiliations

Exogenously Applied Ascorbic Acid-Mediated Changes in Osmoprotection and Oxidative Defense System Enhanced Water Stress Tolerance in Different Cultivars of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorious L.)

Ayesha Farooq et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

The present study was conducted to examine the effect of exogenously applied ascorbic acid (AsA) on osmoprotectants and the oxidative defense system in four cultivars (16171, 16183, 16207 and 16246) of safflower under well-watered and water deficit conditions. Water stress (60% field capacity) significantly decreased the shoot and root fresh and dry weights, shoot and root lengths and chlorophyll contents in all four safflower cultivars, while it increased the leaf free proline, total phenolics, total soluble proteins, hydrogen peroxide content and activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase enzymes. Foliar-applied (100 mg L-1 and 150 mg L-1) ascorbic acid caused a marked improvement in shoot and root fresh and dry weights, plant height, chlorophyll and AsA contents as well as the activity of peroxidase (POD) enzyme particularly under water deficit conditions. It also increased the accumulation of leaf proline, total phenolics, total soluble proteins and glycine betaine (GB) content in all four cultivars. Exogenously applied AsA lowered the contents of MDA and H2O2, and the activities of CAT and SOD enzymes. Overall, exogenously applied AsA had a positive effect on the growth of safflower plants under water deficit conditions which could be related to AsA-induced enhanced osmoprotection and regulation of antioxidant defense system.

Keywords: antioxidants; ascorbic acid; lipid peroxidation; osmoprotectants; safflower; water stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Shoot fresh (A) and dry (B) weights, root fresh (C) and dry (D) weights, shoot (E) and root (F) lengths, of four cultivars of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) foliarly treated with ascorbic acid subjected to water stress conditions (mean ± S.E.).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chlorophyll a (A), chlorophyll b (B) contents of four cultivars of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) foliarly treated with ascorbic acid subjected to water stress conditions (mean ± S.E.).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proline (A), glycine betaine (B), ascorbic acid (C), total soluble proteins (D), total phenolic (E) contents of four cultivars of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) foliarly treated with ascorbic acid subjected to water stress conditions (mean ± S.E.).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proline (A), glycine betaine (B), ascorbic acid (C), total soluble proteins (D), total phenolic (E) contents of four cultivars of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) foliarly treated with ascorbic acid subjected to water stress conditions (mean ± S.E.).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Hydrogen peroxide (A) and malondialdehyde (B) contents of four cultivars of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) foliarly treated with ascorbic acid subjected to water stress conditions (mean ± S.E.).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) (A), catalase (CAT) (B) and peroxidase (POD) (C) enzymes of four cultivars of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) foliarly treated with ascorbic acid subjected to water stress conditions (mean ± S.E.).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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