Phytochelatins and Phenol Content in Barley Seedlings Exposed to Al Toxicity and Primed with Ascorbic Acid and Salicylic Acid

Aluminium (Al) is an essential element to constrain crop production in acid soil all over the world. Root growth inhibition is the primary visible symptom of Al toxicity in plants. It causes oxidative damage in plant cell as a result of excess production of harmful oxygen radicals. Cell provokes antioxidant system against oxidative damage to protect the cell. In this experiment, the performance of non-enzymatic antioxidant like phytochelatin (PC) and phenol against Al toxicity in two barley varieties (RD2052 and RD2552) were evaluated. PC content increased in both shoot and root, whereas phenolic content decreased with increased Al concentration, but priming with two plant growth regulators like ascorbic acid (AA) and salicylic acid (SA) successfully alleviated Al stress and noticed less increased PC and less decreased phenolic content compared with unprimed barley varieties (RD2052 and RD2552). All data were prepared by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).