Research Information System
Applied Fruit Science, vol.67, no.5, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Soil salinity affects approximately 20% of global agricultural land, posing significant challenges to strawberry production. Understanding the salt tolerance mechanisms of different cultivars is crucial for sustainable fruit production. This study investigated the salt tolerance mechanisms of two strawberry cultivars (‘Petaluma’ and ‘Cabrillo’) by examining their morphological, physiological, and molecular responses to salt stress. The plants were subjected to three salt treatments (0, 150, and 300 mM NaCl) for 10 days. The growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, oxidative stress markers, anthocyanin contents, and expression of MYB transcription factors were analyzed. ‘Petaluma’ demonstrated superior salt tolerance with better maintenance of growth parameters (22.7% vs. 38.2% reduction in root length at 300 mM NaCl), lower oxidative damage (77.4% vs. 213.1% increase in MDA levels), and enhanced anthocyanin accumulation (7.2-fold vs. reduction to 45.5% of the control). Gene expression analysis revealed strong upregulation of the myb5 transcription factor in ‘Petaluma’, which strongly correlated with anthocyanin accumulation (r = 0.9988). The stress-responsive transcription factor atf1‑2 showed remarkable early induction (11.24-fold) in ‘Petaluma’ at moderate salinity. Increased salt tolerance in ‘Petaluma’ results from coordinated molecular and physiological responses, primarily through anthocyanin accumulation mediated by myb5 upregulation and early activation of stress signaling pathways.