The presence of heavy metals in the soils is undoubtedly one of the prime abiotic stresses in the world. There are a considerable amount of plant yield losses because of heavy metal stress. The goal of this study was to assess the morphological, physiological and biochemical changes in Alyssum inflatum Nyár. populations upon exposure to different levels of nickel (Ni) (0, 100, 200, 400) μM, salicylic acid (SA) (0, 50, 200) μM and jasmonic acid (JA) (0, 5, 10) μM. Results showed that there were no considerable interpopulation differences, including the shoot Ni concentrations. Reversing the effects of Ni, SA and JA decreased due to Ni accumulation in both populations. By increasing the levels of Ni stress, the fresh weight (FW) of shoot decreased, whereas the application of SA + JA elevated the FW of the shoot in NM plants. Also, SA + JA mitigated Ni oxidative effects by reducing H2O2 concentration in both populations. The results revealed that the exposure of both M and NM plants to high Ni concentration increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities compared to control in both populations. Conversely, APX activity was inhibited in NM plants. Furthermore, SA and JA treatments reversed the detrimental effects of Ni on carotenoid content and reduced the content of proline in plants exposed to Ni stress. All the above suggests that SA and JA confer tolerance to Ni stress in two population of A. inflatum via several mechanisms.
Keywords: Alyssum inflatum; Jasmonic acid; Ni toxicity; Oxidative stress; Salicylic acid.
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