Exogenous gibberellic acid reprograms soybean to higher growth and salt stress tolerance.
The agricultural industry is severely affected by salinity due to its high magnitude of adverse impacts and worldwide distribution. We observed the role of exogenous gibberellic acid (GA(3)) in salinity alleviation of soybean. We found that GA(3) application significantly promoted plant length and plant fresh/dry biomass while markedly hindered by NaCl induced salt stress. The adverse effect of salt stress was mitigated by GA(3), as growth attributes significantly recovered, when GA(3) was added to salt stressed soybean plants. Elevated GA(3) treatments increased daidzein and genistein contents (commonly known as phytoestrogens) of soybean leaves under control and salt stress conditions. Phytohormonal analysis of soybean showed that the level of bioactive gibberellins (GA(1) and GA(4)) and jasmonic acid increased in GA(3) treated plants, while the endogenous abscisic acid and salicylic acid contents declined under the same treatment. GA(3) mitigated the adverse effects of salt stress by regulating the level of phytohormones, thus aiding the plant in resuming its normal growth and development. The presence of GA(1) and GA(4) showed that both early-C13-hydroxylation and non-C13-hydroxylation pathways of GA biosynthesis are functional in soybean. It was concluded that GA(3) ameliorates the adverse effects of salt stress and restores normal growth and development of soybean.
Hamayun
Muhammad
M
School of Applied Biosciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kyungpook National University, South Korea.
Khan
Sumera Afzal
SA
Khan
Abdul Latif
AL
Shin
Jae-Ho
JH
Ahmad
Bashir
B
Shin
Dong-Hyun
DH
Lee
In-Jung
IJ
D005875:Gibberellins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000378:metabolism*; D013025:Glycine max / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology
D005875:Gibberellins; D012965:Sodium Chloride; C007842:gibberellic acid