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Germination and antioxidant responses to salt stress of Tunisian endemic Limonium species at early vegetative stage

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Abstract

Halophytic plants growing in extreme environments have developed morphological, anatomical, biochemical and physiological adaptations. In this research, the effect of salinity (up to 500 mM NaCl) on the germination parameters and the antioxidant responses of two halophytic Limonium species was evaluated. Seed germination parameters (rate, speed), ROS production and the contents of phenolic compounds and antioxidant enzymes of Limonium delicatulum and Limonium vulgare were investigated, with respect to their tolerance to salt treatments and their ability to recover from salt stress conditions. L. vulgare seeds were less affected by salt treatments than L. delicatulum, and consequently recovered more rapidly full germination. Moreover, L. vulgare seedlings had more antioxidant phenolics and enzyme activities than L. delicatulum. The highest ability of L. vulgare to recover from salt treatment might be the result of its adaptation to a highly stressful environment constituted by inland salty soil, whereas L. delicatulum grows closer to the sea, thus receiving diluted salt spray. This distinction makes L. vulgare a good candidate for biosaline agriculture as edible crop plant.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (LR15CBBC02) and by the Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology (IBBA) of National Research Council (CNR) Pisa, Italy. Also, we acknowledge Pr. Walid ZORRIG (Laboratoire des Plantes Extrêmophiles, Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj Cedria, Tunisia) for his scientific support.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire des Plantes Extrêmophiles, Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj Cedria, BP 901, 2050, Hammam Lif, Tunisia

    Aymen Souid, Abderrazak Smaoui, Chedly Abdelly & Karim Ben Hamed

  2. Pisa Unit, Research Area of Pisa, Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology (IBBA), National Research Council, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    Aymen Souid, Lucia Giorgetti, Vincenzo Longo & Lorenza Bellani

  3. EA7462 Géoarchitecture Territoires, Urbanisation, Biodiversité, Environnement, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, 6 Avenue Victor Le Gorgeu, CS 93837, 29238, Brest Cedex 3, France

    Christian Magné

  4. Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Via A. Moro 2, 53100, Siena, Italy

    Lorenza Bellani

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  1. Aymen Souid
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  2. Lucia Giorgetti
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  3. Abderrazak Smaoui
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  4. Chedly Abdelly
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  7. Vincenzo Longo
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  8. Lorenza Bellani
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Correspondence to Lucia Giorgetti.

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Souid, A., Giorgetti, L., Smaoui, A. et al. Germination and antioxidant responses to salt stress of Tunisian endemic Limonium species at early vegetative stage. Acta Physiol Plant 46, 7 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-023-03632-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-023-03632-6

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