Plants (Jan 2024)

Hydrogen Peroxide Alleviates Salt Stress Effects on Gas Exchange, Growth, and Production of Naturally Colored Cotton

  • Jackson Silva Nóbrega,
  • Valéria Ribeiro Gomes,
  • Lauriane Almeida dos Anjos Soares,
  • Geovani Soares de Lima,
  • André Alisson Rodrigues da Silva,
  • Hans Raj Gheyi,
  • Rafaela Aparecida Frazão Torres,
  • Fellype Jonathar Lemos da Silva,
  • Toshik Iarley da Silva,
  • Franciscleudo Bezerra da Costa,
  • Maila Vieira Dantas,
  • Riselane de Lucena Alcântara Bruno,
  • Reginaldo Gomes Nobre,
  • Francisco Vanies da Silva Sá

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13030390
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 3
p. 390

Abstract

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Cotton is one of the most exploited crops in the world, being one of the most important for the Brazilian Northeast. In this region, the use of irrigation is often necessary to meet the water demand of the crop. Water is often used from underground wells that have a large amount of salt in their constitution, which can compromise the development of crops, so it is vital to adopt strategies that reduce salt stress effects on plants, such as the foliar application of hydrogen peroxide. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of foliar application of hydrogen peroxide on the gas exchange, growth, and production of naturally colored cotton under salt stress in the semi-arid region of Paraíba, Brazil. The experiment was carried out in a randomized block design in a 5 × 5 factorial scheme, with five salinity levels of irrigation water—ECw (0.3, 2.0, 3.7, 5.4 and 7.1 dS m−1)—and five concentrations of hydrogen peroxide—H2O2 (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 μM), and with three replicates. The naturally colored cotton ‘BRS Jade’ had its gas exchange, growth, biomass production, and production reduced due to the effects of salt stress, but the plants were able to produce up to the ECw of 3.97 dS m−1. Foliar application of hydrogen peroxide at the estimated concentrations of 56.25 and 37.5 μM reduced the effects of salt stress on the stomatal conductance and CO2 assimilation rate of cotton plants under the estimated ECw levels of 0.73 and 1.58 dS m−1, respectively. In turn, the concentration of 12.5 μM increased water-use efficiency in plants subjected to salinity of 2.43 dS m−1. Absolute and relative growth rates in leaf area increased with foliar application of 100 μM of hydrogen peroxide under ECw of 0.73 and 0.3 dS m−1, respectively. Under conditions of low water salinity (0.3 dS m−1), foliar application of hydrogen peroxide stimulated the biomass formation and production components of cotton.

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