Exogenous choline chloride enhances salt tolerance in wheat and its underlying physiological mechanisms

Guoquan Wang^*Feng ZHOU^*Panpan LuYan LiuZengbing GuoXinhui WangZifan ZhouLi XuYing ZhangWeiguo LiRunqiang Liu^*

• Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, China

Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress that seriously impairs crop growth and development, limiting global food production. As a primary staple food, wheat reduced grain yield and quality under salt stress, posing significant challenges to food security. Recent studies indicate that choline chloride, a safe and efficient plant growth regulator, can alleviate drought symptoms in wheat seedling and enhance crop salt tolerance. The current study demonstrates that application of 400 mg·L-1 choline chloride effectively mitigates salt stress symptoms in wheat seedlings. Specifically, it increases leaf chlorophyll content while reducing osmic and oxidative stress biomarkers. Furthermore, choline chloride treatment significantly boosts the activity of key reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging enzymes. These finding hold considerable promise for famers cultivating saline soils, as foliar application of choline chloride provides a potential strategy to substantially improve wheat growth in saline environments.