Salinity tolerance and antioxidant status in cotton cultures

This investigation focuses upon cell growth and antioxidant status in cultured cells of cotton (Gossypium herbaceum) cvs. Dhumad (salt-tolerant, TOL), H-14 (medium salt-tolerant, MED), and RAhs-2 (salt-sensitive, SEN) exposed to saline stress (50–200 mM NaCl). Mean (± SEM) callus fresh weight (f.wt.) and dry weight (d.wt.) gains were significantly (p < .05) greater on Murashige and Skoog (MS) [1]-based medium with 50 mM NaCl for the TOL cv. (62% and 16%, respectively) over NaCl-free controls (2020 ± 45 and 166 ± 4 mg, respectively); comparable differences were not observed for the MED cv. A significant (p < .05) decrease in mean f.wt. occurred with the SEN cv. exposed to 50 mM NaCl. For all cvs., there were (p < .05) reductions in mean f.wts. in medium with ≥100 mM NaCl. At 200 mM NaCl, mean f.wt. decreases were 52% (TOL), 89% (MED), and 91% (SEN), respectively. A strong correlation existed between antioxidant status and growth of cells with NaCl. Superoxide dismutase and glutathione reductase activities increased with increasing salinity in the TOL cv. to maximum values of 26.3 ± 1.1 U mg−1 protein and 1.05 ± 0.01 AB340nm min−1 mg−1 protein, respectively, at 150 mM NaCl; for the MED and SEN cvs., there were no changes in activities of these enzymes between control and salt treatments. Catalase activity decreased progressively with increasing salt concentration in all cvs. except for SEN with 100 mM NaCl, where mean catalase activity (1.75 ± 0.04 AB240nm min−1 mg−1 protein) was greater (p < .05) than control (1.13 ± 0.08). Overall, cultured cotton cells provide an experimental system for investigating the role of antioxidants in salt tolerance at the cellular level.