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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Response characteristics of highland barley (Hordeum vulgare) seedlings to the stress of salinity and artemisinin under freeze–thaw environment

Yan Qu A B C , Guozhang Bao https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0329-8001 A B C * , Xinyu Pan A B C , Lan Bao D , Jiancai Guo A B C , Jinghui Xi E , Xin Zhang F , Yinan Yang G , Hongwei Zhao H and Guomei Li I
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment of the Ministry of Education (Jilin University), Changchun 130012, China.

B Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, Changchun 130012, China.

C College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.

D Key Laboratory for Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Institute of Natural Disaster Research, School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China.

E College of Plant Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China.

F College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China.

G College of Horticulture, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.

H The Administration of Jingyu Water Conservation, Jinyu 135200, China.

I Yushu Forestry and Grassland Comprehensive Service Center, Yushu 815000, China.

* Correspondence to: baogz@jlu.edu.cn

Handling Editor: Honghong Wu

Functional Plant Biology 49(11) 958-969 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP21359
Submitted: 28 October 2021  Accepted: 3 July 2022   Published: 1 August 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

In Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, crops are commonly subjected to freeze–thaw and salt stress factors simultaneously, and allelopathy is common, which affects the growth of highland barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), the largest food crop in Tibet. In order to explore the effects of artemisinin, salt and freeze–thaw (FAS) stress on physiological characteristics of highland barley seedlings, hydroponic experiment was carried out with the addition of 20 mg/L artemisinin and 150 mM NaCl as well as the simulation of freeze–thaw environment. The results suggested that under combined stress, the soluble protein content in combined stresses of artemisinin, FAS increased by 97.8%, the variation of relative conductivity in FAS group was lower than that in combined salt and freeze–thaw stress (FS), the relative water content decreased significantly (P < 0.05), the malondialdehyde (MDA), H2O2 and soluble sugar content in FAS group accumulated but less than those in FS group, and the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in combined artemisinin and freeze–thaw stress (FA) and FAS groups decreased. In addition, after freeze–thaw treatment, photosynthesis was weakened, and internal CO2 conentration (Ci) in FAS group significantly decreased (P < 0.05). This study proved that appropriate amount of artemisinin can alleviate the damage of salt and freeze–thaw stress on barley seedlings.

Keywords: antioxidant enzyme, artemisinin, combined stress, freeze-thaw, highland barley, internal CO2 concentration, photosynthesis, salinity.


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