Penconazole alleviates salt-induced damage in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) plants

It has been shown that penconazole (PEN) acts as an endogenous signal molecule responsible for inducing stress tolerance in plants. The effect of PEN (15mgl(-1)) and sodium chloride (0, 100, and 200 mM NaCl) on some biochemical and molecular responses of safflower was studied. Results revealed that chlorophylls and total soluble protein contents decreased under salinity, however total carotenoid, anthocyanin, flavonoid, and carbohydrate contents increased as well as SOS1 and NHX1 genes expression. The exogenous PEN had a positive effect on chlorophylls, carotenoid, anthocyanin, flavonoid, soluble protein and carbohydrate contents. In addition, RT-qPCR analysis showed that the exogenous PEN induced expression of SOS1 and NHX1 genes in both salt-treated and untreated plants. Our data indicate that PEN helps safflower plants to better cope with salt stress. The results can provide new insights to better realizing the responsible mechanisms to regulate salinity resistance in safflower. PEN can be considered in order to ameliorate salinity effects, due to the low price and their availability.