Exogenous dopamine mitigates the effects of salinity stress in tomato seedlings by alleviating the oxidative stress and regulating phytohormones

Salt stress is a worldwide major threat to agricultural production. The aim was to investigate the effects of exogenous dopamine (DA) treatments on physiological, morphological and biochemical characteristics of tomato seedlings under salinity stress. Salt stress was created using a 100 mM NaCl solution. Dopamine solutions (0, 50, 100 and 200 µM) were applied with 7-day intervals. Salt stress significantly suppressed plant growth and DA treatments alleviated the negative effects of salt stress on the growth of tomato seedlings. 100 µM DA treatment increased plant and root dry weights, plant stem diameter, plant height and, leaf area by 286.84%, 150.00%, 108.37%, 160.89%, and 158.28%, respectively, compared to the control. Under salinity LRWC, SPAD, chl-a, chl-b, and total chlorophyll contents decreased; membrane permeability (MP), H₂O₂, MDA, proline and sucrose contents, CAT, POD and SOD activities increased. Under salt stress, when 100 µM DA was applied, LRWC, SPAD, chl-a, chl-b, and total chlorophyll contents of plants increased by 13.64%, 18.62%, 43.08%, 64.90%, and 50.00%, while MP reduced by 21.08% compared to the control. When 200 µM DA was applied under salt stress, H₂O₂, MDA, proline and sucrose contents, and CAT, POD and SOD activities were reduced by 31.86%, 18.66%, 56.00%, 38.24%, 11.16%, 17.81% and 10.80%, respectively, compared to non-DA-treated plants. Exogenous application of DA increased IAA content, decreased ABA content and increased ratio of K⁺/Na⁺ and Ca²⁺/Na⁺ under salt stress as well. In conclusion, exogenous dopamine treatments effectively prevent cellular damage in tomato seedlings and improve plant tolerance to salt stress.