Chitosan mitigated the adverse effect of Cd by regulating antioxidant activities, hormones, and organic acids contents in pepper (Capsicum annum L.)
Melek Ekinci,
Mostafakamal Shams,
Metin Turan,
Sumeyra Ucar,
Esra Yaprak,
Esra Arslan Yuksel,
Murat Aydin,
Emre Ilhan,
Guleray Agar,
Sezai Ercisli,
Ertan Yildirim
Affiliations
Melek Ekinci
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey
Mostafakamal Shams
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey; Department of Plant Experimental Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
Metin Turan
Department of Agricultural Trade and Management, Faculty of Economy and Administrative Sciences, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey
Sumeyra Ucar
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
Esra Yaprak
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
Esra Arslan Yuksel
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey
Murat Aydin
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey
Emre Ilhan
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
Guleray Agar
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey
Sezai Ercisli
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey
Ertan Yildirim
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey; Corresponding author.
Chitosan (CTS) is one of the natural healers’ alternatives to chemical products within the scope of good agricultural practices. It can be used in the improvement of agriculture (prevention of toxic metal uptake by plants) due to its chelating feature of metal ions. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of chitosan in eliminating the negative effects of cadmium (Cd) stress on pepper (Capsicum annum L.). The results showed that Cd stress significantly decreased plant growth, chlorophyll content, and leaf water relative content, followed by an increase in proline, antioxidant enzyme activities, and abscisic acid (ABA) content. According to the results, Cd treatment (200 mg kg-1) significantly increased the aspartate, glutamate, asparagine, histidine, and phenylalanine content, while it significantly decreased the content of endogenous hormones such as gibberellic acid (GA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and salicylic acid (SA). However, CTS application decreased the uptake of Cd and caused a decrease in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), abscisic acid (ABA), and melondialdehyde (MDA) content, as well as an increase in plant performance, and GA, IAA, and SA content in the plants grown under Cd pollution compared to the ones treated with Cd and without CTS. This study suggests that CTS application helps pepper seedlings tolerate Cd stress through a decrease in Cd uptake, and an increase in amino acids and hormone content.
