Physiological and Biochemical Mechanisms of Exogenously Applied Selenium for Alleviating Destructive Impacts Induced by Salinity Stress in Bread Wheat

• Published in: Agronomy (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 926
• Main Authors: Desoky, El-Sayed M., Merwad, Abdel-Rahman M. A., Abo El-Maati, Mohamed F., Mansour, Elsayed, Arnaout, Safaa M. A. I., Awad, Mohamed F., Ramadan, Mohamed F., Ibrahim, Seham A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 08.05.2021
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Agricultural production; Antioxidants; Arid regions; Arid zones; Bread; Chlorophyll; Crop production; Crop yield; Enzymatic activity; Enzymes; Foliar applications; growth; Hydrogen peroxide; Membrane conductance; Metabolism; Moisture content; Oxidative stress; Photosynthesis; physio-biochemical traits; Physiology; Plant growth; Proline; Resistance; Salinity; Salinity effects; Salinity tolerance; Salt; Salt tolerance; Seeds; Selenium; Stomata; Stomatal conductance; Sugar; Sulfur; Superoxide; Toxicity; Transpiration; Water content; Wheat; yield parameters
• ISSN: 2073-4395; 2073-4395
• DOI: 10.3390/agronomy11050926

Salinity is a major abiotic stress that poses great obstacles to wheat production, especially in arid regions. The application of exogenous substances can enhance plant salt tolerance and increase its productivity under salinity stress. This work aimed to assess the mechanisms of selenium (Se) at different concentrations (2, 4 and 8 μM SeCl2) to mitigate hazardous impacts of salt toxicity at physiological, biochemical and agronomic levels in bread wheat. The results displayed that Se foliar application increased chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, relative water content, membrane stability index, excised leaf water retention, proline, total soluble sugars, Ca content, K content, antioxidant enzyme activities and non-enzymatic antioxidant compounds compared to untreated plants. On the other hand, Se application decreased the content of Na, hydrogen peroxide and superoxide contents. Accordingly, our findings recommend exogenous Se application (in particular 8 μM) to alleviate the deleterious effects induced by salinity stress and improve wheat yield attributes through enhancing antioxidant defense systems and photosynthetic capacity.