Evaluation of traits and protein changes of Fornax cultivar of canola under salt stress treatment

Canola oil is a vegetable oil derived from a variety of rapeseed with lower erucic acid contents. To investigate the mechanism of response to salinity induced by sodium chloride in canola, Fornax cultivar was evaluated in greenhouse conditions. Results showed that salinity stress affected morphological and physiological traits so that leaf relative water content and photosynthesis-related traits decreased while proline and glycine betaine concentrations were higher than in control plants. In addition, under stress conditions, imbalances in ionic concentrations were caused by an increase in sodium ion concentration and a decrease in intracellular potassium ion, as well as a decrease in the potassium / sodium ratio in leaf cells. Proteomic analysis results also detected 7 protein spots with expression difference and significant induction factor (IF) between control plants and severe salinity stress. Each protein, identified by mass spectrometry, was related to antioxidant defense, involved in photosynthetic light reaction, Calvin cycle, and nitrogen assimilation, respectively.