Fecha de publicación: 05/10/2024 Fuente: ISHS (International Society for Horticultural Science) Post date: Saturday 5 October 2024
Author:
ISHS Secretariat

Sara Yasemin recently completed her PhD at Cukurova University (Turkey), and is now working at Siirt University (Turkey) on abiotic stresses, plant responses and improved tolerance for ornamental plants. To enhance plant tolerance to abiotic stress, understanding how they respond to stress is crucial for devising targeted strategies aimed at strengthening their resilience. The pansy, from the Violaceae family, is widely used as an ornamental flower, particularly during winter, in landscaping, outdoor decoration, and potted arrangements. For this study, Sara investigated the morphological, anatomical, and physiological responses of pansy (Viola × wittrockiana ‘Pansy Inspire Plus F1’) under salt stressed conditions. At the end of the study, there was a noticeable decrease in several parameters, including the number of flowers, flower diameter, flower stalk length, root and shoot growth, as well as the fresh and dry weights of flowers as salinity increased. Additionally, both total and mean leaf area decreased. The visual score also sharply declined. Ion leakage remained stable until the third week, after which it increased in groups subjected to salt application. Additionally, relative water content decreased with increasing salinity. According to SPAD measurements and photosynthetic pigment analysis, leaf chlorophyll content increased in the presence of 50 mM NaCl. This study revealed that epidermis cells and sponge parenchyma sizes increased under salinity, while leaf palisade parenchyma size decreased. Epidermis, xylem, phloem areas, and stem diameter also decreased in the stem with increasing salinity. As a result, V. wittrockiana ‘Pansy Inspire Plus F1’ was identified as being sensitive to salinity. With these findings, it is possible to implement some strategies to enhance the tolerance of pansy to saline soils by applying plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), the external application of elicitors and nanoparticles, etc., or to apply gene editing technologies.
Sara Yasemin won the ISHS Prof. Jens Wünsche Young Minds Award for the best oral presentation at the International Symposium on Ornamental Horticulture for the Service of Society at EHC2024 in Romania in May 2024.
Sara Yasemin, Siirt University, Faculty of Agriculture, 56100, Kezer/Siirt, Turkey, e-mail: sara.yasemin@siirt.edu.tr
The article is available in Chronica HorticulturaeTags: salinityViola × wittrockianaCategories: Young Minds Award Winners