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ABSTRACT
Waterlogging decreased carotenoid content of Vigna sinensis and Zea mays, whilst salinity provoked increases in the former and decreases in the latter. Both treatments showed significant reductions in chlorophyll content and in photosynthetic activity (Hill reaction and 14CO2-light fixation). Meanwhile, a significant decrease in the activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) was detected in both plants. These reductions could result in losses in the photosynthetic activity with a drop in the net formation of carbohydrates. Waterlogging markedly increased glucose and sucrose in shoots and roots of both species throughout the experimental period but greatly decreased polysaccharides, whilst salinity reduced all carbohydrate fractions. Foliar application of 50 ppm kinetin to treated plants mostly counterbalanced the observed changes in pigments, as well as in the Hill reaction and 14CO2 assimilation. Kinetin also rendered carbohydrate levels in shoots and roots of treated plants and activity of Rubisco closer to control values. The increased levels of glucose and sucrose concomitant with decreased polysaccharides might point to a block in their transport rather than to an over-production. Kinetin counterbalanced the effects of waterlogging or salinity on photosynthetic activity, probably through enhanced production of enzyme and/or delay of senescence.
