Morphological, physiological, and biochemical response of citrus rootstocks to salt stress

Abstract

Soil salinity is one of the most significant stressors limiting plant productivity in the world's irrigated and cultivated agricultural lands. Plants have a wide range of adaptations and mitigation strategies to overcome salinity effects. It is possible to mitigate the effects of salt stress by the development of resistant cultivars and more efficient use of available resources. However, these methods are time-consuming and costly. Solutions to salinity issues need to be developed that are both straightforward and inexpensive, as they will likely only be implemented temporarily. In this study, the effects of the different salinity levels (Control, 20mM, 40mM, 60mM, 80mM, and 100mM) on citrus rootstocks were determined. In the citrus growing regions, the sour orange, trifoliate orange, and Carrizo citrange were the three most popular rootstocks. As a result of the present study, the sour orange was found to have the lowest decline in plant height (13.36%), leaf area (31.19%), and root length (8.13%), while the trifoliate orange had the lowest decrease in fresh weight of the plant (6.82%) and root (4.42%). Trifoliate orange was shown to have the highest levels of catalase activity, whereas superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities were found to be highest in Carrizo citrange and sour orange, respectively. The highest concentration of plant nutrients was found in the Carrizo citrange. Therefore, sour orange was discovered to be more salinity tolerant in terms of morphological traits, physiological qualities, biochemical composition, and plant nutrition than trifoliate orange and Carrizo citrange. For areas with high salt levels, growing citrus on sour orange rootstock may be a viable alternative