Respostas fisiológicas ao estresse salino de duas cultivares de feijão-caupi

Abstract

The cultivation of cowpea is fundamental in the Northeast of Brazil due to its social features in employment and subsistence. In this region, cowpea develops under adverse environmental conditions, including irregular precipitation, high temperatures and salinizated soils. The excessive soil salinity could lower the soil water potential, causing osmotic stress in plants, as well as salt stress could induce ionic toxicity due to the accumulation of saline ions (Na+ and Cl-) in the plant tissues. The effects of salinity in the plant metabolism are complex and include processes associated to water deficit, nutritional imbalance, photosynthetic efficiency and carbon assimilation and allocation. In this work, two cowpea cultivars were confronted in relation to physiological mechanisms associated to salt stress. Cowpea seeds of the Pérola and Pitiúba cultivars were selected to this work after a preliminary screening among 55 genotypes. The resistance of these cultivars against NaCl-salinity were assessed during the germination and the initial growth under controlled (27±2°C, photoperiod of 12 h, 240 mol.m-2 s-1) and greenhouse conditions, subjecting plants to increasing external concentrations of NaCl (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mM). At greenhouse conditions, watering were performed according to the substrate field capacity (70%). In the germination assays, the effects of the salt treatments were assessed in fresh weight, dry weight, Na+ , Cl- and K+ content, germination percentage (%G) and germination velocity index (GVI). During the initial growth, fresh weight, dry weight, relative water content and Na+, Cl- and K+ partitioning were determined in the whole plants, while electrolyte leakage, TBARS and the activity of antioxidative enzymes (SOD, CAT, APX e POX) were measured only in the leaves. The tested cultivars presented differential responses to NaCl-salinity, especially during seed germination. Although the Pérola seeds contained more food reserves, they appeared more sensible to the salt treatments, probably due to tegument permeability, which allowed fast imbibition and higher Na+ accumulation. Then, the tissues of Pérola seeds could be more exposed to membrane damages and metabolic disturbances caused by NaCl than that of the Pitiúba cultivar. Additionally, the salt treatments also affected severely the growth of both cultivars during the seedling establishment. This growth restriction was related to saline ion accumulation in the different organs of cowpea seedlings, without considerable changes in the K+ content. Cowpea seedlings excluded Na+ from the shoot and accumulated this ion preferentially in the roots. The Pitiúba seedlings accumulated more Cl- in the shoot than that of the Pérola cultivar and presented better growth performance, indicating that the accumulated Cl- probably did not reach toxic concentrations. Then, ionic toxicity in this species could be related more to Na+ than to Cl- accumulation. Although the salt treatment induced a considerable increase of the electrolyte leakage in cowpea leaves, it provoked only a slight augment of TBARS in these organs. In addition, the activity of SOD, APX and POX was increased in salt-treated plants of both cultivars, while the CAT activity was reduced, indicating a possible protective effect against oxidative damages in leaf tissue. In this way, it seems that the physiological disturbances caused by NaCl stress were not attributable to a secondary oxidative stress. Conversely, the TBARS content jointly with the activity of SOD, CAT, APX and POX could not be recommendable parameters to assess the oxidative damages caused by NaCl in cowpea leaves. Finally, the ability of cowpea leave to overcome salt-induced oxidative stress could involve different pathways of ROS scavenge.