Salicylic acid induced changes in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) under salinity stress

Salicylic acid as an endogenous signal molecule has been reported to be responsible for inducing abiotic stress tolerance in plant species. In this study، the effect of varying levels of salicylic acid (0، 0. 5 and 1 mM) was studied on growth، mineral uptake، membrane permeability، lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyd) and photosynthetic pigments of salt stressed safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) plants. Both tow Cultivars responded similarly to salinity and salicylic acid. Salicylic acid at 0. 5 mM improved plant growth and photosynthetic pigments under saline and non-saline conditions in both cultivars. Salicylic acid also inhibited Na+ accumulation، stimulated K+ and Ca2+ concentrations and decreased lipid peroxidation and ion leakage in salt stressed plants. Higher level of salicylic acid (1 mM) had negative effects on parameters recorded. These results suggested that foliar application of salicylic acid at appropriate concentration can be use as a potential growth regulator to improve plant salinity stress resistance.