Study of the adaptive reaction to salt stress of Сicer arietinum L., grown from seeds exposed to presowing γ – irradiation

Abstract

It was found that γ-irradiation under certain conditions accelerates the growth and development of plants, improves their productivity and quality characteristics. Based on this, in the presented article, we tried to determine the range of the seed irradiation dose, which helps to reduce the negative effect of salt. For this, a fairly wide range of both the radiation dose and the salt concentration was used. The response of the plant to salt stress was determined on the basis of changes both in a biometric  parameters, and in the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), proline, and total protein. According to the results, the main biometric indices increased markedly in chickpea upon pre-sowing irradiation at doses of 1-5 Gy and germination under normal conditions. The maximum increase in individual indices was found at a dose of 5 Gy. In the case of non-irradiated seeds grown under salt conditions, even a low concentration (1 mmol) of salt led to inhibition of the plant development. Seedlings, germinated from seeds irradiated in the dose range from 5 to 100 Gy, were shown to grow normally even at high salt concentrations. At a stimulating dose of 5 Gy, an increase in salt concentration from 1 to 50 mmol led to a gradual increase in MDA levels in the leaves. An increase in salt concentrations in the range of 1-200 mmol also led to a marked increase in the proline content. Under high concentrations (from 10 to 200 mmol) of salt, seed irradiation led to a sharp decrease in the total protein content. Irradiation of seeds at doses of 5- 100 Gy is assumed to reduce the effects of salt stress to some extent. At high salt concentrations, proline plays a significant role in protecting the plant from salt stress.