Antioxidative enzymes response to NaCl stress in salt-tolerant Sesbania rostrata

Sesbania rostrata Brem. & Oberm. has been used as a promising halophytic plant to improve saline soil in north-east Thailand. Our previous study suggested that the salt tolerance of this plant was associated with its ability to translocate Na⁺ and Cl^? ions from roots to shoots and trap them in the shoot cells. The present study further investigated the effect of NaCl on the activity of antioxidative enzymes and the tolerance to an active oxygen species generator, paraquat in S. rostrata leaves. Higher constitutive levels of antioxidative enzyme activities, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR), as well as higher levels of induced CAT and SOD activities with salinity stress were found in salt-tolerant S. rostrata than salt-sensitive Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Meal. Tolerance of S. rostrata to paraquat determined by the chlorophyll content in leaf disks increased with NaCl treatment. These findings indicate that S. rostrata exhibits better protection against the oxidative damage caused by NaCl, at least partly due to a higher constitutive and induced activities of antioxidative enzymes.