In vitro selection of drought-tolerant white poplar clones based on antioxidant activities and osmoprotectant content

Vanja Vuksanović; Branislav Kovačević; Marko Kebert; Lazar Pavlović; Lazar Kesić; Jelena Čukanović; Saša Orlović

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1280794

In vitro selection of drought-tolerant white poplar clones based on antioxidant activities and osmoprotectant content

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Nov 16:14:1280794. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1280794. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Vanja Vuksanović¹, Branislav Kovačević², Marko Kebert², Lazar Pavlović¹, Lazar Kesić², Jelena Čukanović¹, Saša Orlović^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Fruit Growing, Viticulture, Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
² Institute of Lowland Forestry and Environment, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.

Abstract

Introduction: In light of upcoming climate change, there is an urgent requirement for tree improvement regarding adaptability to drought-caused stress and the development of quick and reliable screening methodologies for genotypes' drought tolerance. White poplar is, despite its high adaptability, considered to be an endangered tree species in Serbia, which gives it special importance in the preservation and improvement of biodiversity of riparian ecosystems. The main goal of this research was to evaluate the tolerance of five white poplar clones to the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000 molecular weight 6000) (different concentrations (e.g. 0 g/L, 1 g/L, 10 g/L, 20 g/L, and 50 g/L) in Aspen Culture Medium (ACM).

Methods: The tolerance of the clones was evaluated by using morphological parameters (shoot fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight), photosynthetic pigments (contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, and chlorophyll a+b), and biochemical parameters (total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, ferric reducing antioxidant power, antioxidant activities (DPPH activity and ABTS assay), free proline content and glycine betaine content.

Results and discussion: The values of morphological and photosynthetic pigments declined with an increase in the concentration of PEG 6000. At a concentration of 50 g/L, the content of shoot fresh mass decreased by 41%, the content of Chl a by 68%, Chl b by 65%, and Car by 76% compared to the control. Also, at the same medium, there was an increase in the content of total phenols, accumulation of proline, the content of glycine betaine as well as in antioxidant activity. Based on the obtained results, it can be assumed that more drought-tolerant clones are characterized by high values for biomass, high content of photosynthetic pigments, and high content of proline and glycine betaine in conditions similar to drought in vitro. Clone L-80 showed better results in most of the tested parameters, especially compared to the reference clone Villafranca.

Keywords: abiotic stress; glycine betaine; polyethylene glycol; proline; tissue culture.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research has been supported by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, Contract No. 451-03-47/2023-01/200117 and 451-03-47/2023-01/200197. In addition, this manuscript covered one of the research topics conducted by the researchers gathered in the Center of Excellence Agro-Ur-For at the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad, supported by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovations, contract number 451-03-1524/2023-04/17.