Abstract

Effects of salt and drought stress conditions on callus growth, proline content and antioxidant enzyme avtivity of Punica granatum Ã?Â?Ã?Â?Ã?Â?Ã?Â?NanaÃ?Â?Ã?Â?Ã?Â?Ã?Â?

Author(s): Alireza Bonyanpour, Morteza Khosh-Khui

Callus of Punica granatum ‘Nana’ were cultured on MS medium supplemented with various concentrations of BA and NAA to evaluate callus growth. The highest callus freshweight (0.61 g), dryweight (0.068 g) and diameter (16.16 mm) were observed in 1 mg L-1 BA and 0.1 mg L-1 NAA. In a separate experiment, growth and antioxidant activity (Super oxidismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) and Peroxidase (POD)) of calluswere studied in plants grown under saline (0 -5 g L-1 NaCl) and drought (0 to 8% PEG) conditions. Results showed that under both conditions, growth of callus decreased with increasing in stress treatments. Under saline condition, increasing in salinity increased antioxidant enzyme activity. The highest CAT, POD and SOD activities observed in 4, 5, 2 g L-1 NaCl, respectively.While under drought conditions, the highest SOD and CAT activities observed in 6% PEG and highest POD activity occurred in 8% PEG. The survived tolerant calli obtained had potential to produce salt and drought tolerant cultivars.