Arid Zone Research ›› 2023, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (9): 1465-1471.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2023.09.10

• Plant Ecology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of saline-alkali stress on organic osmoregulatory substances and antioxidant enzyme systems of Helianthus tuberosus

QIAN Yue1,2(),LI Siyuan1,2,RAO Liangyi1,2()   

  1. 1. School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
    2. Engineering Research Center of Forestry Ecological Engineering of Ministry of Education, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
  • Received:2023-04-24 Revised:2023-06-15 Online:2023-09-15 Published:2023-09-28
  • Contact: Liangyi RAO E-mail:qianyuemoon@163.com;raoliangyi@bjfu.edu.cn

Abstract:

To reveal the physiological response of typical crops to saline-alkali stress, we selected Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) as our research object. We set up three different treatments: a complete nutrient soil group (CK), a light saline-alkali soil group (LS), and a moderate saline-alkali soil group (MS). Changes in physiological indicators, such as organic osmoregulatory substances (soluble sugar, soluble protein, and proline); malondialdehyde (MDA) content; and activities of antioxidant enzyme systems [superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxide dismutase (POD), and catalase (CAT)] of Helianthus tuberosus were investigated. The results showed the following: (1) The content of organic osmoregulatory substances in Jerusalem artichoke leaves, including soluble sugar, proline, and soluble protein, increased under different intensities of saline-alkali stress. (2) The groups had no significant differences in MDA content. However, with increased saline-alkali stress intensity, the activity indexes of antioxidant enzyme systems, such as SOD, POD, and CAT, in Jerusalem artichoke leaves showed an upward trend. After 150 days of saline-alkali stress, the SOD activity in the LS and MS groups increased significantly by 22.13% and 26.49%, respectively, compared to the CK group. Additionally, CAT activity in the LS and MS groups increased significantly by 81.66% and 92.38%, respectively, compared to the CK group (P < 0.05). Moreover, POD activity in the MS group was significantly higher than in the CK group during the same period. The above findings demonstrate that Helianthus tuberosus can adapt to a saline-alkali environment by increasing the content of osmoregulatory substances (soluble sugar, soluble protein, and proline) and activating the antioxidant enzyme system (SOD, CAT, and POD), indicating its strong tolerance to saline-alkali stress.

Key words: salt-alkali stress, Helianthus tuberosus, organic osmoregulatory substances, antioxidant enzyme systems