Regenerate shoot responses of aromatic Myrtus communis L.  to salinity under in vitro condition

Aghaie, Peyman; Hosseini Tafreshi, Seyed Ali; Toghyani, Mohammad Amin

Regenerate shoot responses of aromatic Myrtus communis L. to salinity under in vitro condition

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Payame Noor Universtiy

² Biotechnology division, Department of cell and molecular biology, Faculty of chemistry, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran

³ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shahed university, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Abstract
Salinity is one of the most important limiting factors for growth and distribution of terrestrial plants. Salt stress, by affecting the osmotic potential of the soil around the root, cause toxicity to plants, which lead to reduced growth, declined productivity, and impaired nutrient uptake. The Myrtus communis L. is an ornamental-medicinal shrub that is of particular importance due to its useful aromatic compounds, its uses in traditional medicine, and applications in natural ecosystem restoration and soil erosion projects. Few studies have been conducted on the physiological responses and resistance of myrtle to abiotic stresses and the limited available results make it difficult to generalize to all populations. In the present study, we attempted to investigate the regeneration and growth rate of myrtle shoots over different salinity levels (0, 100, 150, and 250 mM NaCl) under in-vitro culture condition. Additionally, some other physiological responses such as pigment content, relative water content (RWC), cell membrane stability, leaf proline content, amount of reactive oxygen species, biochemical parameters, and activity of some antioxidant enzymes, were also evaluated. The results showed that the salinities at moderate and severe levels (150 and 250 mM NaCl, respectively) significantly effected in-vitro growth and regeneration, membrane stability, carbohydrate and protein contents as well as leaf chlorosis and necrosis. The results also showed that RWC chlorophyll content, and resistance index were only affected at high salinity level, while lipid and proline content, the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and ROS levels were relatively affected at all salinity levels.

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