Ácido salicílico como indutor de tolerância ao déficit hídrico nas fases de germinação e crescimento inicial de feijão caupi

Abstract

Cowpea is one of the most important food crops in the Brazilian semi-arid, however, in this region the water deficiency is a common condition, one of the most limiting factors for agricultural production, especially in the phases of germination and initial growth. In this sense, it has been studied to use some resistance-inducing substances, including salicylic acid. The aim of this work was to evaluate the application of salicylic acid to induce tolerance to drought in the stages of germination and initial growth of cowpea. Research consisted of a factorial 6 x 3 x 5, and 6 cowpea cultivars (BRS Guariba, BR 17 Gurguéia, BRS Aracê, BRS Marataoã, BRS Itaim e BRS Potengi) under three conditions in pre-sowing (SE = without soaking; AS = soaking in salicylic acid and AD = soaking in distilled water) and five potential water during germination and initial growth (-1.0, -0.8, -0.6, -0.4 and 0 MPa) totaling 90 treatments. Experimental design was completely randomized with five replications, and the plot was composed of 20 seeds. We evaluated the percentage of germination, germination speed index, growth and mass accumulation of stem, root and total, seed vigor, the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and free proline content. Germination, vigor and root growth of cowpea seedlings are improved by soaking in salicylic acid for 8 hours. Antioxidant activity was enhanced on seedling by soaking the seeds in salicylic acid, especially in BRS Itaim. BRS Itaim endured better to reduced water potential by applying salicylic acid, given the increased activity of SOD, CAT and APX, which features a higher tolerance to stress. Continued growth of cowpea seedlings subjected to water deficit is associated with increased antioxidative activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase. Soaking salicylic acid solution (10 -5 M) can be used to induce tolerance to drought during germination and initial growth of BRS Itaim cultivar.