Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the drought tolerance and initial mechanism of Capparis spinosa L suspension cell to water stress. The suspension callus inoculated in liquid Murashige and Skoog medium contained 0 to 15% (m/v) polyethylene glycol (PEG 8000) and physiological index were assessed. The result indicated that drought stress led to hydrogen peroxide accumulation more than in the control which led the activities of peroxidase (POD) increased at low-concentration PEG treatment and then greatly declined. The soluble sugar followed the same trend, the content of fatty acid and total unsaturated fatty acid (TUFA) increased consequently. The longer and more severe the drought stress is, the higher the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), proline and soluble protein are. The study also demonstrated that when cells suffered more severe injury (over 8%), the soluble sugar, POD and unsaturated fatty acid exhibited decrease trend as cell membranes broke and endogenous protective enzyme activities decreased and MDA accumulated.

Key words: Capparis spinosa L, suspension culture, drought stress.