Ethanolamine affects physiological responses of salt-treated jute plants

ABSTRACT

High soil salinity decreases growth, photosynthetic activity, productivity and causes nutrient imbalance in plants. The important biogenic ethanolamine (EA), a natural compound found in plant cells, exerts a protective effect against unfavorable environments. This study evaluated the efficacy of foliar applied EA (150 µM) in reducing effects of salt applied at 200 mM NaCl, equivalent to 20 dS·m⁻¹, in jute (Corchorus olitorius L.), a green leafy vegetable. Plants grown at 20 dS·m⁻¹ NaCl had decreased growth, less photosynthetic pigments contents, photosynthetic activity (¹⁴CO₂ fixation), nucleic acids, total protein, and levels of N, P, and K. Foliar application of EA increased these parameters compared to the untreated control and salt-treated plants. Salt-treated plants had increased transpiration, antioxidant and nonantioxidant enzyme activities, and H₂O₂, malondialdehyde, free proline content, and Na⁺ and Cl⁻ levels, compared to untreated controls and plants treated with EA. Exogenous application of EA to foliage appears to ameliorate toxic effects of salinity by improving the antioxidant system, ionic balance, and ¹⁴CO₂ assimilation of jute. It appears that EA application can help plants cope with high salinity via induction of tolerance mechanisms.

KEYWORDS:

• Corchorus olitorius
• ¹⁴CO₂ assimilation
• Egypt
• photosynthetic activity
• salinity