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. 2024 Aug 12:15:1449157.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1449157. eCollection 2024.

Foliar application of sodium selenite affects the growth, antioxidant system, and fruit quality of strawberry

Yuanxiu Lin #  1 , Shuaipeng Cao #  1 , Xiao Wang  1 , Yin Liu  1 , Ziqing Sun  1 , Yunting Zhang  1 , Mengyao Li  1 , Yan Wang  1 , Wen He  1 , Yong Zhang  1 , Qing Chen  1 , Xiaorong Wang  1 , Ya Luo  1 , Haoru Tang  1
Affiliations

Foliar application of sodium selenite affects the growth, antioxidant system, and fruit quality of strawberry

Yuanxiu Lin et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Introduction: Selenium (Se) plays a vital role in various physiological processes in plants and is regarded as an essential micronutrient for human health as well.

Methods: In this study, sodium selenite solution at 10, 40, 70, and 100 mg·L-1 concentrations was foliar sprayed, and the strawberry plant growth, antioxidant system, and fruit quality with an emphasis on sugar and acid content were assessed.

Results: The results showed that 10 mg·L-1 of sodium selenite treatment promoted plant growth, while all the treated concentrations could enhance photosynthesis, the antioxidant system in leaves, the content of Se, and ascorbic acid in fruits. More importantly, 40 mg·L-1 sodium selenite treatment significantly increased fruit weight, total soluble solid, total phenolic content, and anthocyanins, as well as improved the shape index. Furthermore, it decreased the total flavonoid and proanthocyanidin content. Particularly, sodium selenite treatment at 40 and 70 mg·L-1 largely increased the ratio of soluble sugars to titratable acid. The changes of predominant sugars and organic acids during fruit development were further investigated. The sucrose, fructose, and glucose content was upregulated by sodium selenite treatment through upregulating the activities of sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) and acid invertase, as well as the FaSPS expression. In addition, sodium selenite treatment inhibited the activity of citrate synthase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, rather than modulating their transcript levels to reduce the citric acid content.

Conclusions: This work presented a potentially efficient approach to enhance plant growth and fruit quality and supplement Se in strawberry, providing insights into the mechanism of regulating sugar and acid metabolism by Se.

Keywords: antioxidant system; fruit quality; plant growth; selenium; strawberry.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The effects of Se treatments on photosynthesis related parameters in strawberry plants. (A) Chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll content in strawberry leaves. (B) Leaf area of strawberry under different concentrations of the Na2SeO3 treatment. (C-E) The Pn, Tr, Gs, and Ci changes in response to different Na2SeO3 treatments. Columns with error bars represent the mean values of three biological replicates ± standard deviation. The LSD multiple comparisons test was used to compare the differences between control and treatment. The lower-case letters indicate a significant difference at the P ≤ 0.05 level.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of Na2SeO3 treatments on antioxidant characteristics in strawberry. (A-C) Changes in antioxidant enzymes SOD, POD, and CAT activities under treatment with different Na2SeO3 concentrations. (D) MDA content under treatments with different Na2SeO3 concentrations. (E) Free proline in strawberry leaves under Na2SeO3 treatments. Columns with error bars represent the mean values of three biological replicates ± standard deviation. The LSD multiple comparisons test was used to compare the differences between control and treatment. The lower-case letters indicate a significant difference at the P ≤ 0.05 level.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The Se content in strawberry treated with different Na2SeO3 concentrations. Columns with error bars represented the mean values of three biological replicates ± standard deviation. The LSD multiple comparisons test was used to compare the differences between control and treatment. The lower-case letters indicate a significant difference at the P ≤ 0.05 level.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The effects of Se treatment on the content of phytochemicals and antioxidant capacity. (A), Total soluble solids content; (B), Ascorbic acid content; (C), Total flavonoid content; (D), Total phenolic content; (E, F), Total anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins content; (G), MDA content; (H, I), FRAP and DPPH. Columns with error bars represent the mean values of three biological replicates ± standard deviation. The LSD multiple comparisons test was used to compare the differences between control and treatment. The lower-case letters indicate a significant difference at the P ≤ 0.05 level.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The effects of Se application on sugar and acid content. (A), Soluble sugars content; (B), Titratable acid content; (C), The ratio of sugar to acid. Columns with error bars represent the mean values of three biological replicates ± standard deviation. The LSD multiple comparisons test was used to compare the differences between control and treatment. The lower-case letters indicate a significant difference at the P ≤ 0.05 level.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effects of Se treatments on sugar and acid content during fruit development. (A), Fructose content; (B), Sucrose content; (C), Glucose content; (D), Citric acid; (E), Malic acid content. Columns with error bars represent the mean values of three biological replicates ± standard deviation. The LSD multiple comparisons test was used to compare the differences between control and treatment. The lower-case letters indicate a significant difference at the P ≤ 0.05 level.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Changes of sugar metabolism-involved enzyme activities and gene expression during fruit development. (A), Sucrose synthase synthesis activity; (B), Sucrose synthase cleavage activity; (C), Activity of sucrose phosphate synthase; (D), Neutral invertase activity; (E), Acid invertase activity; (F), Sucrose synthase gene expression; (G), Sucrose phosphate synthase gene expression; (H), Neutral invertase gene expression; (I), Acid invertase gene expression. BG, W, PR, and FR indicate fruit at the big green, white, partial red, and full red stages, respectively. Columns with error bars represent the mean values of three biological replicates ± standard deviation. The LSD multiple comparisons test was used to compare the differences between control and treatment. The lower-case letters indicate a significant difference at the P ≤ 0.05 level.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Enzyme activities and the transcript levels of acid metabolism-involved genes. (A), Activity of citrate synthase; (B), Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity; (C), Isocitrate dehydrogenase activity; (D), Citrate synthase expression; (E), Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase expression; (F), Isocitrate dehydrogenase expression. BG, W, PR, and FR indicate fruit at the big green, white, partial red, and full red stages, respectively. Columns with error bars represent the mean values of three biological replicates ± standard deviation. The LSD multiple comparisons test was used to compare the differences between control and treatment. The lower-case letters indicate a significant difference at the P ≤ 0.05 level.
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Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province (2023NSFSC1239).

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