Jasmonic acid differentially affects growth, ion uptake and abscisic acid concentration in salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive rice cultivars

Phytohormones play critical roles in regulating plant responses to stress. Here, we investigated the effects of salt stress and stress recovery by applying jasmonate to the two different rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars Dongjinchalbyeo (DJC, salt-tolerant) and Dongjinbyeo (DJ, salt-sensitive). Salt stress remarkably decreased the root length of plants even at low NaCl concentration (20 mm). Salt stress led to a sharp increase in the concentrations of abscisic acid (ABA) in 20 and 40 mm NaCl, when compared with the control values. The concentrations of ABA in the salt-tolerant cultivar DJC plants progressively increased with increasing NaCl levels, whereas in the salt-sensitive cultivar DJ, they sharply decreased in all three parts of rice plants at 80 mm NaCl treatment. The decrease of jasmonic acid (JA) concentrations in salt-tolerant cultivar DJC was lesser than in the salt-sensitive cultivar DJ plants in the shoot. Post-application in the stressed plants with 30 mu m JA at 24 and 48 h after NaCl treatment, recovered salt inhibition on dry mass production more effectively than application of JA at 48 and 24 h before salt stress, and during salt stress simultaneously. The uptake of Na decreased especially in the salt-sensitive cultivar DJ plants, whereas there was an increase in Ca and Mg levels and slight increase of K by JA application. Leaf water potential, leaf photosynthetic rate, and maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) also remarkably recovered when 30 mu m JA was applied 24 h after the salt stress compared with the 40 mm NaCl-treated plants. These results clearly indicate that post-application with exogenous JA can ameliorate salt-stressed rice seedlings, especially the salt-sensitive cultivar rather than the salt-tolerant cultivar. This may change the balance of other endogenous plant hormones.