Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
TURKISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY, cilt.49, sa.5, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Environmental factors such as salt stress inhibit the growth of plants and agricultural productivity. Exogenous amino acid application has been shown to benefit plants. However, the effect of cysteine application on salt stress reduction in chickpea ( (Cicer arietinum L.) is unknown. This study examined how exogenous cysteine could reduce salt stress in 2 chickpea cultivars with different salt tolerances. Salt-resistant G & ouml;k & ccedil;e and salt-sensitive K & uuml;smen cultivars were subjected to 100 mM NaCl stress with or without a 100 mu M Cys pretreatment. Without Cys pretreatment, salt stress caused the sensitive K & uuml;smen variety to lose 1.49 times its dry weight and 1.35 times its relative water content compared to the mock (control) group. These characteristics were not significantly affected in the resistant G & ouml;k & ccedil;e variety. Salt stress increased malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker for lipid peroxidation, by 1.55 times in K & uuml;smen but remained steady in G & ouml;k & ccedil;e compared to the mock group. In K & uuml;smen, cysteine with salt (Cys + NaCl) treatment increased dry weight and decreased MDA 1.2 times compared to salt alone. Cysteine treatment increased putrescine levels in K & uuml;smen 1.34 times against NaCl alone. Increased putrescine levels and upregulation of delta-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (2.75 times) and trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (1.34 times) in the Cys + NaCl group showed that osmotic regulation was involved in salt stress recovery. Cys + NaCl enhanced arginine decarboxylase expression 1.68 times in G & ouml;k & ccedil;e but not in K & uuml;smen compared to NaCl. During salt stress, cysteine increased trehalose-6-phosphate synthase expression 1.34 times in K & uuml;smen but not in G & ouml;k & ccedil;e. The Cys + NaCl treatment reduced the expression of the catalase gene in both varieties compared to NaCl, indicating a complex regulation, while the CAT enzyme activity increased in G & ouml;k & ccedil;e. This study showed that exogenous cysteine protected chickpeas against salt stress. The benefit was larger in K & uuml;smen, the salt-sensitive cultivar. In salt-stressed plants, cysteine increased antioxidant defense and osmotic management, maintaining membrane integrity and improving growth. These findings suggest that cysteine could increase crop resistance in salt-affected areas.