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Investigation of Exogenous Benzyladenine on Growth, Biochemical Composition, Photosynthesis and Antioxidant Activity of Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) Seedlings

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Abstract

Cytokinins play essential roles in many aspects of plant growth and development. To study the effects of benzyladenine (BA) on growth and metabolism of Indian sandalwood (Santalum album L.) seedlings, the influences of BA concentrations of 0, 1, 10 and 100 mg L−1 on growth, biochemical components (proteins, sugars, chlorophylls and carotenoids) and gas exchange parameters as well as oxidative status were investigated through a pot cultivation experiment. The results showed that BA acted in a biphasic manner. Treatment with BA at 1 mg L−1 promoted stem growth, crown width and dry biomass accumulation, improved seedling quality, enhanced the net photosynthetic rate and instantaneous water use efficiency and stimulated photosynthetic pigment (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoid) accumulation greatly. Moreover, the contents of soluble proteins and sugars were also increased, but the height growth was inhibited considerably. Meanwhile, the activities of most antioxidant enzymes (catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase) were also strengthened significantly, and therefore lipid peroxidation was inhibited greatly. In contrast, no significant improvement was observed on ground diameter, crown width, biomass, quality index, chlorophyll a content, chlorophyll b content or net photosynthetic rate when treated with 10 and 100 mg L−1 BA, but the oxidative status was aggravated, as a result of which lipid peroxidation was intensified. The data proved that BA was one of the most active plant growth regulators on growth and metabolism of S. album seedlings, and suggested that leaf application of 1 mg L−1 BA was the most suitable concentration for enhancing seedling quality during the nursery period.

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Acknowledgements

This study was sponsored by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Non-profit Research Institution of Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAFYBB2014QA009, CAFYBB2016QB010, CAFYBB2016ZX003-4, CAFYBB2017ZX001-4) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31500512). Thanks to Prof. Khongsak Pinyopusarerk, CSIRO Australia for assistance in revising the manuscript. We are grateful to the three anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and suggestions to improve the manuscript.

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  1. Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, No. 682, Guangshan Yi Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510520, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaojin Liu, Daping Xu, Zengjiang Yang & Ningnan Zhang

  2. Foshan Yunyong Forest Farm, No. 138, Mingyun Road, Mingcheng Town, Gaoming District, Foshan, 528518, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Lijun Pan

  3. Foshan Yunyong Non-timber Forest Conservation Center, No. 138, Mingyun Road, Mingcheng Town, Gaoming District, Foshan, 528518, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Lijun Pan

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  1. Xiaojin Liu
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Liu, X., Xu, D., Yang, Z. et al. Investigation of Exogenous Benzyladenine on Growth, Biochemical Composition, Photosynthesis and Antioxidant Activity of Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) Seedlings. J Plant Growth Regul 37, 1148–1158 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-018-9806-y

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