ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Enhanced Resilience to Salt Stress: An Integrated
Approach Addressing Physiochemical Attributes
of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
More details
Hide details
1
Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus,
22060, Abbottabad, Pakistan
2
Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University,
P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
3
Department of Biotechnology, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, 22060, Abbottabad, Pakistan
4
Department of Botany, Government Post Graduate College Mandain Abbottabad, 22060, Abbottabad, Pakistan
Submission date: 2024-02-14
Final revision date: 2024-03-13
Acceptance date: 2024-03-29
Online publication date: 2024-08-05
Publication date: 2025-01-28
Corresponding author
Muhammad Shahzad
Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus,
22060, Abbottabad, Pakistan
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(3):2323-2336
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Salinity stress exerts a deleterious impact on crop growth, presenting a formidable challenge to
sustainable agriculture, because of the prevalence of salt-affected arable land globally. The present
investigation focused on mitigating the adverse effects of salinity on Triticum aestivum L. and employed
integrated physical, chemical, and biological amendments, which were denoted as treatments T1 to T8.
The findings unveiled higher pH, EC, and Na+ concentrations in the topsoil compared to the subsoil
within the selected saline field. In comparison to the control treatment (T1), the combined application of
gypsum, farmyard manure, and ridges (T8) demonstrated a significant enhancement in agronomic traits,
chlorophyll contents, and total protein in wheat. Notably, T8 exhibited the lowest Na+ concentration
and the highest levels of K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ compared to all other treatments. Furthermore, the
amalgamation of two reclamation approaches (T5, T6, and T7) surpassed single amendments (T2,
T3, and T4) in terms of both agronomic traits and ionic analysis. Treatment T8 displayed the lowest
phytochemical contents (i.e., antioxidant activity) in wheat, as indicated by total phenolic and flavonoid
content, ferric and molybdate ion reduction, DPPH, and hydroxyl scavengers. These parameters
exhibited a positive association in descending order, with 80.6%, 86.9%, 82.2%, 73%, 86%, and 84.5%
in T1 and 71.4%, 81.2%, 73.4%, 68.1%, 79.3%, and 78.5% in T8, respectively. The observed alterations
resulting from the combinations of amendments present promising targets, rendering them prospective
in enabling wheat plants to successfully acclimatize to saline soil conditions.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
REFERENCES (48)
1.
MUTHURAMALINGAM P., JEYASRI R., RAKKAMMAL K., SATISH L., SHAMILI S., KARTHIKEYAN A., VALLIAMMAI A., PRIYA A., SELVARAJ A., GOWRI P., WU Q.S., PANDIAN S.K., SHIN H., CHEN J.T., BASKAR V., THIRUVENGADAM M., AKILAN M., RAMESH M. Multi-Omics and Integrative Approach towards Understanding Salinity Tolerance in Rice: A Review. Biology, 11 (7), 2022.
https://doi.org/10.3390/biolog... PMid:36101403 PMCid:PMC9312129.
2.
EL SABAGH A., ISLAM M.S., SKALICKY M., ALI RAZA M., SINGH K., ANWAR HOSSAIN M., HOSSAIN A., MAHBOOB W., IQBAL M.A., RATNASEKERA D., SINGHAL R.K., AHMED S., KUMARI A., WASAYA A., SYTAR O., BRESTIC M., ÇIG F., ERMAN M., HABIB UR RAHMAN M., ULLAH N., ARSHAD A. Salinity Stress in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the Changing Climate: Adaptation and Management Strategies. Frontiers Media S.A., 3, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.....
3.
NAOREM A., JAYARAMAN S., DANG Y.P., DALAL R.C., SINHA N.K., RAO C.S., PATRA A.K. Soil Constraints in an Arid Environment - Challenges, Prospects, and Implications. Agronomy, 13 (1), 2023.
https://doi.org/10.3390/agrono....
4.
PENG J., MA J., WEI X., ZHANG C., JIA N., WANG X., WANG E.T., HU D., WANG Z. Accumulation of beneficial bacteria in the rhizosphere of maize (Zea mays L.) grown in a saline soil in responding to a consortium of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. Annals of Microbiology, 71 (1), 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13213....
5.
HUSSAIN S., SHAUKAT M., ASHRAF M., ZHU C., JIN Q., ZHANG J. Salinity stress in arid and semi-arid climates: Effects and management in field crops. Climate Change and Agriculture, 13, 201, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.5772/intech....
6.
LAL A., DATTA B. Genetic Programming and Gaussian Process Regression Models for Groundwater Salinity Prediction: Machine Learning for Sustainable Water Resources Management. Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (Sustech), 2018.
https://doi.org/10.1109/SusTec....
7.
NAVEED M., SAJID H., MUSTAFA A., NIAMAT B., AHMAD Z., YASEEN M., KAMRAN M., RAFIQUE M., AHAR S., CHEN J.T. Alleviation of salinity-induced oxidative stress, improvement in growth, physiology and mineral nutrition of canola (Brassica napus L.) through calcium-fortified composted animal manure. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12 (3), 2020.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su1203....
8.
LUDWICZAK A., OSIAK M., CÁRDENAS-PÉREZ S., LUBIŃSKA-MIELIŃSKA S., PIERNIK A. Osmotic stress or ionic composition: which affects the early growth of crop species more? Agronomy, 11 (3), 435, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.3390/agrono....
9.
HASANUZZAMAN M., RAIHAN M.R.H., MASUD A.A.C., RAHMAN K., NOWROZ F., RAHMAN M., NAHAR K., FUJITA M. Regulation of reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defense in plants under salinity. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22 (17), 2021.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22... PMid:34502233 PMCid:PMC8430727.
10.
CHEN T., SHABALA S., NIU Y., CHEN Z.H., SHABALA L., MEINKE H., VENKATARAMAN G., PAREEK A., XU J., ZHOU M. Molecular mechanisms of salinity tolerance in rice. Institute of Crop Sciences, 9 (3), 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cj.2....
11.
SADDIQ M.S., IQBAL S., HAFEEZ M.B., IBRAHIM A.M.H., RAZA A., FATIMA E.M., BALOCH H., JAHANZAIB WOODROW P., CIARMIELLO L.F. Effect of salinity stress on physiological changes in winter and spring wheat. Agronomy, 11 (6), 2021.
https://doi.org/10.3390/agrono....
12.
KOONDHAR M.A., QIU L., MAGSI H., CHANDIO A.A., HE G. Comparing economic efficiency of wheat productivity in different cropping systems of Sindh Province, Pakistan. Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences, 17 (4), 398, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssa....
13.
ASHIK T., ISLAM M.M., RANA M.S., JAHAN K., URMI T.A., JAHAN N.A., RAHMAN M.M. Evaluation of Salinity Tolerant Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Genotypes through Multivariate Analysis of Agronomic Traits. Agricultural Science Digest, 43 (4), 417, 2023.
14.
SELEIMAN M.F., ASLAM M.T., ALHAMMAD B.A., HASSAN M.U., MAQBOOL R., CHATTHA M.U., KHAN I., GITARI H.I., USLU O.S., ROY R. Salinity stress in wheat: effects, mechanisms and management strategies. Phyton (0031-9457), 91 (4), 2022.
https://doi.org/10.32604/phyto....
15.
KUMAR V., RAGHUVANSHI N., PANDEY A.K., KUMAR A., THODAY-KENNEDY E., KANT S. Role of Halotolerant Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria in Mitigating Salinity Stress: Recent Advances and Possibilities. Agriculture, 13, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.3390/agricu....
16.
ABOELSOUD H., ENGEL B., GAD K. Effect of Planting Methods and Gypsum Application on Yield and Water Productivity of Wheat under Salinity Conditions in North Nile Delta. Agronomy, 10 (6), 2020.
https://doi.org/10.3390/agrono....
17.
KHALID M.F., HUDA S., YONG M., LI L., LI L., CHEN Z.-H., AHMED T. Alleviation of drought and salt stress in vegetables: crop responses and mitigation strategies. Plant Growth Regulation, 99 (2), 177, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725....
18.
ABDUL QADIR A., MURTAZA G., ZIA-UR-REHMAN M., WARAICH E.A. Effect of soil amendments and varied soil texture on wheat growth, physiology, and nutrient accumulation at different salinity: sodicity levels. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 15 (13), 1199, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517....
19.
SONI P.G., BASAK N., RAI A.K., SUNDHA P., CHANDRA P., YADAV R.K. Occurrence of salinity and drought stresses: status, impact, and management. In Salinity and Drought Tolerance in Plants: Physiological Perspectives, Springer, pp. 1, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-98....
20.
RADFARD M., SEIF M., HASHEMI A.H.G., ZAREI A., SAGHI M.H., SHALYARI N., MOROVATI R., HEIDARINEJAD Z., SAMAEI M.R. Protocol for the estimation of drinking water quality index (DWQI) in water resources: Artificial neural network (ANFIS) and Arc-Gis. MethodsX, 6, 1021, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.... PMid:31193115 PMCid:PMC6517571.
21.
ELBASHIER M., XIAOHOU S., ALI A., OSMAN B. Modeling of soil exchangeable sodium percentage function to soil adsorption ratio on sandy clay loam soil, Khartoum-Sudan. International Journal of Plant & Soil Science, 10 (5), 1, 2016.
https://doi.org/10.9734/IJPSS/....
22.
WANG S., MO X., LIU S., LIN Z., HU S. Validation and trend analysis of ECV soil moisture data on cropland in North China Plain during 1981-2010. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 48, 110, 2016.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.....
23.
BERETTA M., BRITTO V., TAVARES T.M., DA SILVA S.M.T., PLETSCH A.L. Occurrence of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in marine sediments in the Todos os Santos Bay and the north coast of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 14 (7), 1278, 2014.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368....
24.
MA J., WU S., SHEKHAR N.V.R., BISWAS S., SAHU A.K. Determination of Physicochemical Parameters and Levels of Heavy Metals in Food Waste Water with Environmental Effects. Bioinorganic Chemistry and Applications, 2020, 8886093, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8... PMid:32884567 PMCid:PMC7455830.
25.
QADIR A., ALI N., JAN S.A., RABBANI M.A., KHURSHID H., NOUMAN A., ULLAH F. Characterization of agromorphological variation in exotic Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) germplasm. Journal of Biological & Environmental Sciences, 10 (3), 71, 2017.
26.
ZHANG X., KHALID M., WANG R., CHI Y., ZHANG D., CHU S., YANG X., ZHOU P. Enhancing lettuce growth and rhizosphere microbial community with Bacillus safensis YM1 compost in soilless cultivation: An agricultural approach for kitchen waste utilization. Scientia Horticulturae, 321, 112345, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scie....
27.
MUGHAL I., SHAH Y., TAHIR S., HAIDER W., FAYYAZ M., YASMIN T., ILYAS M., FARRAKH S. Protein quantification and enzyme activity estimation of Pakistani wheat landraces. PLoS ONE, 15 (9), e0239375, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journa... PMid:32966325 PMCid:PMC7511017.
28.
ISMAIL A.M., HORIE T. Genomics, physiology, and molecular breeding approaches for improving salt tolerance. Annual Review of Plant Biology, 68, 405, 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annure... PMid:28226230 PMCid:PMC12883323.
29.
SALIH A.M., AL-QURAINY F., NADEEM M., TARROUM M., KHAN S., SHAIKHALDEIN H.O., AL-HASHIMI A., ALFAGHAM A., ALKAHTANI J. Optimization Method for Phenolic Compounds Extraction from Medicinal Plant (Juniperus procera) and Phytochemicals Screening. Molecules, 26 (24), 2021.
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecu... PMid:34946537 PMCid:PMC8708409.
30.
BIBI N., SHAH M.H., KHAN N., AL-HASHIMI A., ELSHIKH M.S., IQBAL A., AHMAD S., ABBASI A.M. Variations in Total Phenolic, Total Flavonoid Contents, and Free Radicals' Scavenging Potential of Onion Varieties Planted under Diverse Environmental Conditions. Plants, 11 (7), 2022.
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants... PMid:35406930 PMCid:PMC9002954.
31.
KOUSALYA L., VIJAYANAND N., SIVASANGARIRAMYA S., KATHIRESAN D., MUTHUMANI M., VENKATESH S., SEETHAPATHY P., YASOTHKUMAR N., SANKARALINGAM S., ALAM M., RAVINDRAN B., SAYYED R.Z., ANITA J., DINESHKUMAR R. Ameliorated antioxidant and phytochemical profiling of Canscora decussata - An ayurvedic medicinal plant. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, 53, 102881, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcab....
32.
SHETEIWY M.S., ULHASSAN Z., QI W., LU H., ABDELGAWAD H., MINKINA T., SUSHKOVA S., RAJPUT V.D., EL-KEBLAWY A., JOŚKO I. Association of jasmonic acid priming with multiple defense mechanisms in wheat plants under high salt stress. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, 886862, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2... PMid:36061773 PMCid:PMC9429808.
33.
RAZZAGHI F., AHMADI S.H., ADOLF V.I., JENSEN C.R., JACOBSEN S.E., ANDERSEN M.N. Water relations and transpiration of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) under salinity and soil drying. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, 197 (5), 348, 2011.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439....
35.
AFRIDI M.S., SUMAIRA A., MAHMOOD T., SALAM A., MUKHTAR T., MEHMOOD S., ALI J., KHATOON Z., BIBI M., JAVED M.T., SULTAN T., CHAUDHARY H.J. Induction of tolerance to salinity in wheat genotypes by plant growth promoting endophytes: Involvement of ACC deaminase and antioxidant enzymes. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 139, 569, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plap... PMid:31029030.
36.
MAITI S.K., AHIRWAL J. Ecological restoration of coal mine degraded lands: Topsoil management, pedogenesis, carbon sequestration, and mine pit limnology. In Phytomanagement of polluted sites, Elsevier, pp. 83, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0....
37.
GAO C., EL-SAWAH A.M., ALI D.F.I., ALHAJ HAMOUD Y., SHAGHALEH H., SHETEIWY M.S. The integration of bio and organic fertilizers improve plant growth, grain yield, quality and metabolism of hybrid maize (Zea mays L.). Agronomy, 10 (3), 319, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.3390/agrono....
38.
CAO Y., GAO Y., LI J., TIAN Y. Straw composts, gypsum and their mixtures enhance tomato yields under continuous saline water irrigation. Agricultural Water Management, 223, 105721, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwa....
39.
TAMMAM A.A., RABEI ABDEL MOEZ SHEHATA M., PESSARAKLI M., EL-AGGAN W.H. Vermicompost and its role in alleviation of salt stress in plants-I. Impact of vermicompost on growth and nutrient uptake of salt-stressed plants. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 46 (7), 1446, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1080/019041....
40.
ANDRADE FORONDA D., COLINET G. Combined Application of Organic Amendments and Gypsum to Reclaim Saline-Alkali Soil. Agriculture (Switzerland), 12 (7), 2022.
https://doi.org/10.3390/agricu....
41.
XU X., WANG J., TANG Y., CUI X., HOU D., JIA H., WANG S., GUO L., WANG J., LIN A. Mitigating soil salinity stress with titanium gypsum and biochar composite materials: Improvement effects and mechanism. Chemosphere, 321, 138127, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chem... PMid:36780996.
42.
ŁUCZAK K., CZERNIAWSKA-KUSZA I., ROSIK-DULEWSKA C., KUSZA G. Effect of NaCl road salt on the ionic composition of soils and Aesculus hippocastanum L. foliage and leaf damage intensity. Scientific Reports, 11 (1), 5309, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598... PMid:33674734 PMCid:PMC7935994.
43.
LEOGRANDE R., VITTI C. Use of organic amendments to reclaim saline and sodic soils: a review. Arid Land Research and Management, 33 (1), 1, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1080/153249....
44.
KETEHOULI T., CARTHER K.F.I., NOMAN M., WANG F.W., LI X.W., LI H.Y. Adaptation of plants to salt stress: Characterization of Na+ and K+ transporters and role of Cbl gene family in regulating salt stress response. Agronomy, 9 (11), 2019.
https://doi.org/10.3390/agrono....
45.
GARCÍA-MARTÍ M., PIÑERO M.C., GARCÍA-SANCHEZ F., MESTRE T.C., LÓPEZ-DELACALLE M., MARTÍNEZ V., RIVERO R.M. Amelioration of the oxidative stress generated by simple or combined abiotic stress through the K+ and Ca2+ supplementation in tomato plants. Antioxidants, 8 (4), 81, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox... PMid:30935085 PMCid:PMC6523471.
46.
BROMHAM L., HUA X., CARDILLO M. Macroevolutionary and macroecological approaches to understanding the evolution of stress tolerance in plants. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13... PMid:32705700.
47.
IQBAL S., HUSSAIN S., QAYYAUM M.A., ASHRAF M., SAIFULLAH S. The response of maize physiology under salinity stress and its coping strategies. Plant Stress Physiology, 1, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.5772/intech....
48.
RAMAIYA S.D., LEE H.H., XIAO Y.J., SHAHBANI N.S., ZAKARIA M.H., BUJANG J.S. Organic cultivation practices enhanced antioxidant activities and secondary metabolites in giant granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis L.). PLoS ONE, 16 (7 July), 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journa... PMid:34310644 PMCid:PMC8312946.