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. 2021 Dec 21:12:800251.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.800251. eCollection 2021.

Alpha Tocopherol-Induced Modulations in the Morphophysiological Attributes of Okra Under Saline Conditions

Maria Naqve  1 , Xiukang Wang  2 , Muhammad Shahbaz  1 , Athar Mahmood  3 , Safura Bibi  1 , Sajid Fiaz  4
Affiliations

Alpha Tocopherol-Induced Modulations in the Morphophysiological Attributes of Okra Under Saline Conditions

Maria Naqve et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Foliar spray of antioxidants is a pragmatic approach to combat various effects of salinity stress in agricultural crops. A pot trial was conducted to examine the effect of exogenously applied α-tocopherol (α-Toc) as foliar spray to induce morpho-physiological modulations in two varieties (Noori and Sabzpari) of okra grown under salt stress conditions (0 mM and 100 mM NaCl). After 36 days of salinity treatments, four levels (0, 100, 200 and 300 mg L-1) of α-tocopherol were sprayed. Salt stress significantly reduced root and shoot fresh and dry biomass, photosynthesis rate (A), transpiration rate (E), water use efficiency (A/E), stomatal conductance, internal CO2 concentration (C i )and C i /C a ), and photosynthetic pigments. Foliar spray of α-tocopherol proved effective in improving the growth of okra by significantly enhancing root dry weight, root length, shoot fresh weight, shoot length, Chl. a, Chl. b, Total chl., β-Car., Total Car., A, E, A/E, C i, and C i /C a , leaf and root Ca2+ and K+ ion content, total soluble sugars, non-reducing sugars and total soluble protein content by significantly reducing root Na+ ion content. The Okra variety Noori performed better than Sabzpari in the examined attributes, and 300 mg L-1 application of α-tocopherol was more pronounced in improving the growth of okra by alleviating salinity effects. Therefore, the use of α-tocopherol (300 mg L-1) as a foliar spray is recommended to improve okra production in saline soils.

Keywords: alpha tocopherol; biomass; okra; photosynthetic attributes; salinity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Root fresh weight (A), Root dry weight (B), Root length (C) of okra varieties sprayed with different levels of α-tocopherol under saline conditions. Values represent means ± S.D. Significant differences among row spacing were measured by the least significant difference (LSD) at p > 0.05 and indicated by different letters.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Shoot fresh weight (A), Shoot dry weight (B) and Shoot length (C) of okra varieties sprayed with different levels of α-tocopherol under saline conditions. Values represent means ± S.D. Significant differences among row spacing were measured by the least significant difference (LSD) at p > 0.05 and indicated by different letters.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Chl. a (A), Chl. b (B), Chl. a/b (C) of okra varieties sprayed with different levels of α-tocopherol under saline conditions. Values represent means ± S.D. Significant differences among row spacing were measured by the least significant difference (LSD) at p > 0.05 and indicated by different letters.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Total Chl. (A), Total Car. (B), β- Carotene (C) of okra varieties sprayed with different levels of α-tocopherol under saline conditions. Values represent means ± S.D. Significant differences among row spacing were measured by the least significant difference (LSD) at p > 0.05 and indicated by different letters.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Photosynthetic rate A (A), Transpiration rate E (B), Water use efficiency A/E (C), of okra varieties sprayed with different levels of α-tocopherol under saline conditions. Values represent means ± S.D. Significant differences among row spacing were measured by the least significant difference (LSD) at p > 0.05 and indicated by different letters.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Stomatal conductance gs (A), Internal CO2 concentration Ci (B) Ci/Ca (C) of okra varieties sprayed with different levels of α-tocopherol under saline conditions. Values represent means ± S.D. Significant differences among row spacing were measured by the least significant difference (LSD) at p > 0.05 and indicated by different letters.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Leaf Ca2+ (A), Leaf K+ (B) Leaf Na+ (C) of okra varieties sprayed with different levels of α-tocopherol under saline conditions Values represent means ± S.D. Significant differences among row spacing were measured by the least significant difference (LSD) at p > 0.05 and indicated by different letters.
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Root Ca2+ (A), Root K+ (B) Root Na+ (C) of okra varieties sprayed with different levels of α-tocopherol under saline conditions. Values represent means ± S.D. Significant differences among row spacing were measured by the least significant difference (LSD) at p > 0.05 and indicated by different letters.
FIGURE 9
FIGURE 9
Non-reducing sugars (A), Reducing sugars (B), Total soluble sugars (C) of okra varieties sprayed with different levels of α-tocopherol under saline conditions. Values represent means ± S.D. Significant differences among row spacing were measured by the least significant difference (LSD) at p > 0.05 and indicated by different letters.
FIGURE 10
FIGURE 10
Total soluble proteins of okra varieties sprayed with different levels of α-tocopherol under saline conditions. Values represent means ± S.D. Significant differences among row spacing were measured by the least significant difference (LSD) at p > 0.05 and indicated by different letters.
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