Abstract
The toxicity of lead (Pb) in agricultural soil is constantly increasing as a result of anthropogenic activities. Pb is one of the most phytotoxic metals in soil that accumulates in plant tissue, resulting in yield loss. It is currently becoming more popular to supplement glycine betaine (GB) for Pb-induced stress tolerance in crop plants. Currently, no report describes the use of GB as a stress mitigator for growth attributes and stress-specific biomarkers in barley plants under Pb stress conditions. Hence, the present research was designed to examine the stress-mitigating behavior of GB on various growth attributes including germination percentage, seed vigor index (SVI), radicle length, plant biomass (fresh and dry), shoot and root length, physiological attributes such as relative water content (RWC), and stress-specific biomarkers like electrolyte leakage (EL), and H2O2 content of two barley varieties viz. BH959 and BH946 at three Pb stress treatments (15 mM, 25 mM, and 35 mM), with and without GB (2 mM) supplementation in natural conditions. The present investigation showed that at the highest Pb stress (35 mM), the germination rate was reduced to zero, and the growth attributes and RWC of both barley varieties were also reduced as compared to the non-stressed plants (control) with an increase in Pb treatment. However, EL up to 70% and H2O2 content up to 30% increased with an increase in Pb stress concentration indicated by ROS accumulation, resulting in more oxidative stress. Additionally, GB application alleviated the toxic effect of Pb stress by improving the rate of germination by 33.3% and growth performance by reducing the ROS accumulation in terms of reducing stress biomarkers H2O2 by 25%, and EL by 12%. It has been revealed that the application of GB can minimize or reduce the toxic effects caused by Pb toxicity in both varieties, positively modulating plant growth performances and lowering oxidative stress. This research may provide a scientific basis for assessing Pb tolerance in barley plants and developing alternative approaches to protecting them from the severe effects of Pb toxicity.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Jyoti Sharma (JS), Sandeep Kumar (SK), Pradeep Khyalia (PK), Vikram Kumar (VK), Pooja singh (PS), and Asha Sharma (AS); writing—review and editing—were carried out by JS, SK, PK,VK, PS, sakshi saini, Priyanka Sharma, Ajay Kumar and AS; statistical analysis- PK; writing—original draft preparation—was performed by JS, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Sharma, J., Kumar, S., Kumar, V. et al. Stress-mitigating behavior of glycine betaine to enhance growth performance by suppressing the oxidative stress in Pb-stressed barley genotypes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 7498–7513 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31731-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31731-x