Biometric and Biochemical Responses to Salt in Solanum dasyphyllum, a Potential Donor of Tolerance for Eggplant

[EN] Soil salinity is a major constraint on crop cultivation, affecting millions of hectares of land and increasing drastically worldwide. Identifying sources of tolerance within the crops and their wild relatives is imperative. Recently, Solanum dasyphyllum L. has been identified as source of toler...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ortega-Albero, Neus|||0000-0002-5989-4841, Vicente, Oscar|||0000-0001-5076-3784, Rodríguez Burruezo, Adrián|||0000-0002-4530-8071, Fita, Ana|||0000-0002-8637-5852, González-Orenga, Sara
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/221234
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/221234
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Abiotic stress
Antioxidant enzymes
Ion transport
Photosynthetic pigments
Proline
Salinity
Solanum dasyphyllum
Wild relative
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] Soil salinity is a major constraint on crop cultivation, affecting millions of hectares of land and increasing drastically worldwide. Identifying sources of tolerance within the crops and their wild relatives is imperative. Recently, Solanum dasyphyllum L. has been identified as source of tolerance to drought for eggplant (S. melongena L.). In this article, the potential use of S. dasyphyllum as a source of tolerance to salinity is investigated through the characterization of young plants' performance under three salt stress treatments, well water (control), as well as 200 mM and 400 mM NaCl. Biometric parameters such as leaf and radicular biomass, plant height, root length, and biochemical parameters-such as photosynthetic pigments, main ions accumulation, proline, total soluble sugars, malondialdehyde, total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant enzymes' activity-were quantified. The results showed a certain reduction in leaf and stem plant growth up to 60% in response to extreme salinity, while root biomass was maintained under mid-salt stress. Salt stress caused toxic ions to accumulate in plant organs, up to 1600 mmol g-1 dry weight Na+ and a 2250 mmol g-1 dry weight Cl- in leaves under extreme salinity exposure. However, S. dasyphyllum maintained K+ levels at around 450 mmol g-1 in leaves and roots and 750 mmol g-1 in stems, indicating a mechanism related to ion transport to cope with ion toxicity. The biochemical response indicated osmotic adjustments and antioxidant activity without the need of activating antioxidant enzymes. S. dasyphyllum has proved to be a valuable genetic tool for new eggplant breeding programs regarding salt stress, with somewhat improved performance regarding biometric parameters and ion transport.