Effect of zinc nutrition on salinity-induced oxidative damages in wheat genotypes differing in zinc deficiency tolerance

Zinc deficiency and salinity are well-documented soil problems and often occur simultaneously in cultivated soils. Usually, plants respond to environmental stress factors by activating their antioxidative defense mechanisms. The antioxidative response of wheat genotypes to salinity in relation to Zn nutrition is not well understood. So, we investigated the effect of Zn nutrition on the growth, membrane permeability and sulfhydryl group (–SH groups) content of root cells and antioxidative defense mechanisms of wheat plants exposed to salt stress. In a hydroponic experiment, three bread wheat genotypes (Triticum aestivum L. cvs. Rushan, Kavir, and Cross) with different Zn-deficiency tolerance were exposed to adequate (1 μM Zn) and deficient (no Zn) Zn supply and three salinity levels (0, 60, and 120 mM NaCl). The results obtained showed that adequate Zn nutrition counteracted the detrimental effect of 60 mM NaCl level on the growth of all three wheat genotypes while it had no effect on the root and shoot growth of ‘Rushan’ and ‘Kavir’ at the 120 mM NaCl treatment. At the 0 and 60 mM NaCl treatments, Zn application decreased root membrane permeability while increased –SH group content and root activity of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in ‘Rushan’ and ‘Kavir’. In contrast, Zn had no effect on the root membrane permeability and –SH group content of ‘Rushan’ and ‘Kavir’ exposed to the 120 mM NaCl treatment. At all salinity levels, ‘Cross’ plants supplied with Zn had lower root membrane permeability and higher –SH group content compared to those grown under Zn-deficient conditions. At the 0 and 60 salinity levels, Zn-deficient roots of Kavir and Rushan genotype leaked significantly higher amounts of Fe and K than the Zn-sufficient roots. In contrast, at the 120 mM treatment, Zn application had no effect or slightly increased Fe and K concentration in the root ion leakage of these wheat genotypes. For ‘Cross’, at all salinity levels, Zn-deficient roots leaked significantly higher amounts of Fe and K compared with the Zn-sufficient roots. The differential tolerance to salt stress among wheat genotypes examined in this study was related to their tolerance to Zn-deficiency, –SH group content, and root activity of CAT and SOD. Greater tolerance to salinity of Zn-deficiency tolerant genotype ‘Cross’ is probably associated with its greater antioxidative defense capacity