Seaweed extract treatment enhances vegetative growth and antioxidant parameters in salt stressed triticum durum l.

Abstract

Nowadays, food security depends on the increased production of cereals such as wheat (Triticum durum L.) which is one of the main sources of calories and protein. However, crop production is severely affected by adverse environmental stresses such as salt stress (Rahaie and al., 2013). To limit the negative effet of salinity on plant growth, many methods have been used. A lot of research studies have shown the importance of liquid extracts obtained from seaweeds as foliar sprays for several crops to improve growth under adverse factors (Metha and al., 1967, Latique and al., 2014). The present study reports the result of wheat plants (Triticum durum L.) irrigated with either 2 or 4 g/l of saline solution (SS) by sodium chloride (NaCl) were treated with aqueous extracts of green macroalgae Ulva rigida (URE) in order to increase wheat salt tolerance. Seaweed treated plants showed higher ability to tolerate salt stress (2 or 4 g/l of NaCl) by significant (P>0.5%) increasing of photosynthetic pigments (Chlorophyll: Chlorophyll total, chlorophyll a and b types) contents. The increase of these contents was associated with increasing activities of antioxidant enzyme systems superoxide dismutase (SOD); phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC); glutathione reductase (GR); Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH); glutathione peroxidase (GPx); glutathione-S-transferase (GST); Isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH). However, wheat plant exposed to salt stress showed significant changes in all growth parameter and antioxidant enzyme activities compared with that in plants irrigated with regular water. This study indicates that the algae extracts could be used as a promising plant growth enhancer for treating wheat plants irrigated with saline solution.