An in Vitro Approach to Investigate the Role of Abscisic Acid in Alleviating the Negative Effects of Chilling Stress on Banana Shoots
Ibrahim Hmmam1,*, Ali Raza2, Ivica Djalovic3, Nagwa Khedr1, Abdou Abdellatif1
1
Pomology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, 2613, Egypt
2
College of Agriculture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
3
Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Novi Sad, Serbia
*
Corresponding Author: Ibrahim Hmmam. Email: ibrahim.s.hmmam@agr.cu.edu.eg
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Physiological and Molecular Interventions in Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants)
Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2023.028317
Received 12 December 2022; Accepted 08 February 2023; Published online 02 March 2023
Abstract
Banana is a tropical crop cultivated in warm places. Chilling stress in Egypt is making banana crops less
productive. Abscisic acid (ABA), a key plant hormone, regulates metabolic and physiological processes and
protects plants from a variety of stresses. In vitro growing banana shoots were pre-treated with ABA at four
concentrations (0, 25, 50, and 100 mM) and chilled at 5°C for 24 h, followed by a six-day recovery period at
25°C. By comparing ABA treatments to both positive and negative controls, physiological and biochemical
changes were investigated. Chilling stress (5°C) caused a considerable increase in lipid peroxidation and ion
leakage and reduced photosynthetic pigments in cold-treated plantlets. Increasing the concentration of ABA
to 100 µM enhanced the response to chilling stress. ABA had a major effect on mitigating chilling injury in
banana shoots by keeping cell membranes stable and lowering the amount of ion leakage and lipid peroxidation.
Also, ABA significantly maintained the photosynthetic pigment concentration of banana shoots; accumulated
higher amounts of total soluble carbohydrates and proline; and increased DPPH radical scavenging activity.
Furthermore, ABA treatment enhanced cold tolerance in chilling-stressed banana shoots through the regulation
of antioxidant enzyme activity. Overall, the results show that ABA is a good choice for protecting banana shoots
from the damage caused by chilling stress.
Keywords
Abiotic stress; antioxidant; cold stress; plant hormone; photosynthetic pigment