Salicylic acid enhances antioxidant system in Brassica juncea grown under different levels of manganese

The aim was to explore the responses of varied doses of manganese in mustard plants and also to test the proposition that salicylic acid induced up-regulation of antioxidant system which protect photosynthetic apparatus. Seeds were sown in pots and allowed to germinate under natural environmental conditions. At 10 days stage, soils in the pots were enriched with different levels (0, 3, 6, or 9 mM) of Mn for three days and allowed to grow till 30 day stage. At 31st day, foliage of plants was sprayed with 10 μM of salicylic acid (SA) and then allowed to grow till 45 days. Then plants were harvested to assess various growth, leaf gas exchange traits and biochemical parameters. Mn-treated plants had diminished growth, water relations and photosynthetic attributes along with carbonic anhydrase activity whereas; the level of lipid peroxidation, electrolyte leakage, accumulation of H2O2 along with proline accumulation and antioxidant enzymes increased in a concentration dependent manner. Follow-up application of SA to the Mn-stressed plants improved growth, water relations and photosynthetic traits, accelerated the activity of antioxidant enzymes and also the accumulation of proline. SA mediated tolerance to Mn-stressed plants could have due to up-regulation of antioxidant enzymes and proline accumulation.