Jasmonic acid improved in vitro strawberry (Fragaria x ananassaDuch.) resistance to PEG-induced water stress

Key message In vitro culture was used to study the effects of JA in strawberry under stress. PCA and heat map showed that relationships among studied parameters changed. To investigate the influence of jasmonic acid (JA) on morpho-physiological and biochemical characteristics of strawberry cv. Queen Elisa, under in vitro PEG-induced water stress, a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design (CRD) was conducted. PEG-induced water stress was imposed using polyethylene glycol (PEG6000) at three levels (0, 5 and 7% w/v), under three levels of JA application (0, 0.01 and 0.05 mM). The results indicated that PEG-induced water stress negatively impacted all studied morphological traits except for shoot fresh and dry weight. Furthermore, PEG-induced water stress had a decreasing effect on physiological traits including relative water content (RWC), photosynthesis pigments, membrane-stability index (MSI), and total proteins while it increased the activity of peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and proline. JA application showed an interaction effect with PEG-induced water stress on all studied traits except for SOD, POD, and total carbohydrate. Besides, based on the heat-map and principal component analysis results, three distinct groups were observed for physio-biochemical traits. Accordingly, the most effective treatment was the application of 0.05 mM JA under non-stressed condition. Altogether, the strawberry plants treated with higher JA concentrations could effectively cope with PEG-induced water stress adverse effects. Meanwhile, JA application improved strawberry growth attributes under both stress and non-stress conditions. In conclusion, the application of JA can be suggested as an effective way to alleviate deleterious impacts dehydration stress on strawberry under in vitro conditions.