Role of β-carotene on alleviation of salt-induced stress in Allium cepa L.

Dilek Çavuşoğlu

Abstract: Effects of β-carotene on the seedling growth (fresh weight, radicle length and radicle number), seed germination, chromosomal aberrations (CAs) and mitotic index (MI) in Allium cepa L. germinated in both normal and salt stress conditions were investigated in this study. In only β-carotene medium, the fresh weight and radicle number of the seedling were reduced partially compared to the control seedling grown in the distilled water medium. While their germination percentage indicated statistically the same values as the control, their radicle number was decreased according the control. Besides, the MI in the root tip meristematic cells of Allium cepa seeds germinated in alone β-carotene medium statistically showed the same value compared to the control seeds germinated in the distilled water medium, whereas the CAs exhibited increase significantly compared to the control. On the other hand, salt stress significantly inhibited the seedling growth and seed germination of A. cepa. What’s more, it markedly reduced the MI in the root tip meristems of the seeds and increased the number of CAs. Nonetheless, inhibitive effects of salt on the MI, seedling growth, seed germination and CAs significantly decreased with the application of β-carotene.

Keywords: Allium cepa L.; mitotic index; salt stress; seed germination; seedling growth; β-carotene, chromosomal aberrations

Date published: 2020-08-13