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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Mitigation strategy of saline stress in Fragaria vesca using natural and synthetic brassinosteroids as biostimulants

Ramiro N. Furio https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-2147 A * , Ana C. Fernández A , Patricia L. Albornoz B C , Melisa Evangelina Yonny D , María Luisa Toscano Adamo D , Ana I. Ruiz B , Mónica Azucena Nazareno D , Yamilet Coll E , Juan C. Díaz-Ricci F and Sergio M. Salazar A G
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, EEA Famaillá, Tucumán CP4132, Argentina.

B Instituto de Morfología Vegetal, Fundación Miguel Lillo, Tucumán T4000JFE, Argentina.

C Cátedra de Anatomía Vegetal, Fac. Ciencias Naturales e IML UNT, Tucumán CP4000, Argentina.

D Instituto de Ciencias Químicas - Facultad de Agronomía y Agroindustrias - Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero, CONICET, Santiago del Estero CP4200, Argentina.

E Centro de Estudios de Productos Naturales, Facultad de Química, Universidad de La Habana, Vedado CP10400, Cuba.

F Instituto de Química Biológica, Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, and Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas (INSIBIO, CONICET-UNT), San Miguel de Tucumán CPT4000ILI, Argentina.

G Facultad de Agronomía, Zootecnia y Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, San Miguel de Tucumán CP4000ACS, Argentina.

* Correspondence to: furio.ramiro@inta.gob.ar

Handling Editor: Honghong Wu

Functional Plant Biology 51, FP23327 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP23327
Submitted: 30 December 2023  Accepted: 24 September 2024  Published: 16 October 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Bassinosteroids (BRs) can induce plant defence responses and promote plant growth. In this work, we evaluated the effect of a natural (EP24) and a synthetic (BB16) brassinosteroid on strawberry (Fragaria vesca) plants exposed to saline stress. Treated plants showed higher shoot dry weight and root growth compared to untreated control plants. In BR-treated plants, crown diameters increased 66% and 40%, leaf area 148% and 112%, relative water content in leaves 84% and 61%, and SPAD values 24% and 26%, in response to BB16 and EP24, respectively. A marked stomatal closure, increased leaflet lignification, and a decrease in cortex thickness, root diameter and stele radius were also observed in treated plants. Treatments also reduces stress-induced damage, as plants showed a 34% decrease in malondialdehyde content and a lower proline content compared to control plants. A 22% and 15% increase in ascorbate peroxidase and total phenolic compound activities was observed in response to BB16, and a 24% increase in total flavonoid compound in response to both BRs, under stress conditions. These results allow us to propose the use of BRs as an environmentally safe crop management strategy to overcome salinity situations that severely affect crop yield.

Keywords: anatomical studies, biochemical markers, biostimulants, brassinosteroids, oxidative stress, salinity stress, tolerance, wild strawberry.

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