Ameliorative Effect by Calcium on NaCl Salinity Stress Related to Proline Metabolism in the Callus of Centella asiatica L

Soil salinity affects plant growth and development by way of osmotic stress. Compatible osmolytes are potent osmoprotectants that play a role in counteracting the effect of saline stress. Proline biosynthesis and catabolism were investigated in both the control and salt stressed calli. Proline content showed a steady increase in the calli of all NaCl treated media. Calli on CaCl₂ containing media did not show any increase in proline level compared to control calli. When the salinized media were supplemented with CaCl₂ the proline level drastically increased compared to the corresponding calli grown on salt alone. Similarly, the activity of proline biosynthetic enzyme, pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) under salt stress was higher in NaCl + CaCl₂ supplemented medium than the calli on the salinized medium alone. This suggested that the alleviation effect of calcium under saline condition was through modulation of the enzyme complexes that accelerate the rate of proline biosynthesis under salt stress. Similarly, the activity of proline degrading enzyme, proline oxidase was found to be lower in calli of all salt stressed media than control.