Effects of Exogenous Methyl Jasmonate on the Growth and Physiological and Biochemical Characteristics of Walnut Seedlings Under Salt Stress

doi:10.16420/j.issn.0513-353x.2025-0264

Acta Horticulturae Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (6): 1695-1708.doi: 10.16420/j.issn.0513-353x.2025-0264

• Cultivation · Physiology & Biochemistry • Previous Articles Next Articles

Effects of Exogenous Methyl Jasmonate on the Growth and Physiological and Biochemical Characteristics of Walnut Seedlings Under Salt Stress

NIE Ruining, WU Chengxu, LI Ao, ZHENG Xu, JI Xinying, SU Yi, SUN Leyuan, ZHANG Junpei^*()

State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding， Key Laboratory of Tree Breeding and Cultivation of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration，Research Institute of Forestry，Chinese Academy of Forestry， Beijing 100091， China

Received:2025-09-19 Revised:2026-04-07 Online:2026-06-24 Published:2026-06-24
Contact: ZHANG Junpei

Abstract

Abstract:

This study aimed to investigate the physiological response characteristics of walnut seedlings treated with exogenous methyl jasmonate（MeJA）under salt stress（150 mmol · L^-1 NaCl），so as to provide a basis for walnut production in saline-alkali areas. Using‘Wen 185’walnut（Juglans regia‘Wen 185’）as the experimental material，five treatments were established：an untreated control，and 150 mmol · L^-1 NaCl supplemented with 0，50，100，200，or 400 μmol · L^-1 MeJA. Seedling growth phenotype，photochemical characteristics，antioxidant enzyme activities，osmotic regulators，endogenous hormones，and ion contents were measured. The results showed that exogenous MeJA treatment alleviated the growth inhibition caused by salt stress to varying degrees in a concentration-dependent manner. Among the treatments，50 μmol · L^-1 MeJA exhibited the most significant alleviating effect，manifested as reduced leaf wilting，and significantly increased shoot fresh weight，root fresh weight，and net photosynthetic rate（P_n）compared with the salt-stressed treatment. This treatment also significantly increased the contents of JA，SA，IAA and optimized ion balance（elevated K⁺ content and K⁺/Na⁺）. Correspondingly，the activities of SOD and APX，as well as soluble sugar content，were significantly decreased compared with T0，indicating mitigated oxidative damage and normalized osmotic regulation. 100 μmol · L^-1 MeJA also improved some indicators，whereas the alleviating effects of 200 and 400 μmol · L^-1 MeJA gradually weakened with increasing concentration. In conclusion，an appropriate concentration（50 μmol · L^-1）of exogenous MeJA can effectively enhance the salt tolerance of walnut seedlings through multiple physiological pathways，including improving photosynthetic efficiency，optimizing ion balance，and the antioxidant system.

Key words: Juglans regia, salt stress, methyl jasmonate, physiological effect

NIE Ruining, WU Chengxu, LI Ao, ZHENG Xu, JI Xinying, SU Yi, SUN Leyuan, ZHANG Junpei. Effects of Exogenous Methyl Jasmonate on the Growth and Physiological and Biochemical Characteristics of Walnut Seedlings Under Salt Stress[J]. Acta Horticulturae Sinica, 2026, 53(6): 1695-1708.

Figures/Tables 10

Fig. 1 Phenotypic changes of walnut under MeJA and salt stress treatments CK：Control，0 μmol · L-1 NaCl + 0 μmol · L-1 MeJA；T0-T4 were 150 mmol · L-1 NaCl + 0，50，100，200，400 μmol · L-1 MeJA，respectively. The same below

Table 1 Effects of MeJA and salt stress on fresh and dry weight in different tissues of walnut

处理 Treatment	地上部鲜质量/g Shoot fresh weight	地上部干质量/g Shoot dry weight	地下部鲜质量/g Root fresh weight	地下部干质量/g Root dry weight	总干质量/g Total weight
CK	21.88 ± 4.09 a	6.07 ± 1.23 a	15.09 ± 6.45 a	5.82 ± 0.62 a	12.22 ± 1.45 a
T0	13.46 ± 2.44 c	5.70 ± 1.02 a	6.77 ± 0.48 b	5.32 ± 0.67 a	11.02 ± 1.67 a
T1	20.73 ± 1.34 ab	6.55 ± 0.92 a	22.10 ± 3.64 a	5.88 ± 1.30 a	12.42 ± 0.44 a
T2	16.92 ± 2.08 bc	6.78 ± 1.05 a	17.82 ± 2.89 a	4.70 ± 1.34 a	11.48 ± 1.49 a
T3	14.55 ± 1.01 c	5.50 ± 0.80 a	18.67 ± 1.93 a	4.81 ± 0.75 a	10.31 ± 0.62 a
T4	14.74 ± 0.84 c	5.93 ± 0.63 a	18.40 ± 5.31 a	5.09 ± 0.52 a	10.81 ± 0.93 a

Fig. 2 Stomatal changes of walnut leaves under MeJA and salt stress treatments Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences among treatments according to Duncan’s multiple range test（P < 0.05）. The same below

Fig. 3 Changes in photosynthetic characteristics of walnut under MeJA and salt stress treatments A-D：Photosynthetic pigments；E-H：Photosynthetic parameters；I-L：PSⅡresponse parameters

Fig. 4 Changes in SOD，POD，APX activities and MDA，soluble sugar contents in walnut under MeJA and salt stress

Fig. 5 Changes in the content of Na+，K+，K+/Na+，H+，Ca2+ in walnut under MeJA and salt stresses

Fig. 6 Changes in the content of IAA，SA，JA and ABA in walnut leaves under MeJA and salt stresses

Fig. 7 Correlation analysis of walnut leaves under MeJA and salt stress treatments SFW：Shoot fresh weight；SDW：Shoot dry weight；RFW：Root fresh weight；RDW：Root dry weight；W：Total dry weight；Chl a：Chlorophyll a；Chl b：Chlorophyll b；Caro：Carotenoid；SL：Stomatal length；SW：Stomatal width；SL/SW：Stomatal length-to-width ratio. Pn：Net photosynthetic rate；Gs：Stomatal conductance；Tr：Transpiration rate；Ci：Intercellular CO2 concentration；Fv/Fm：Maximal quantum yield of PSII；Fv/F0：Potential photochemical activity of PSII；Fm/F0：Electron transport rate through PSII；PIABS：Performance index based on absorption；SOD：Superoxide dismutase；POD：Peroxidase；APX：Ascorbate peroxidase；MDA：Malondialdehyde；SS：Soluble sugar；IAA：Indole-3-acetic acid；ABA：Abscisic acid；SA：Salicylic acid；JA：Jasmonic acid.** P < 0.01；*** P < 0.001. The same below

Fig. 8 Principal component analysis of walnut leaves under MeJA and salt stress treatments

Table 2 Comprehensive evaluation of walnut seedlings growth under different concentrations of MeJA

处理组 Treatment	主成分1 Principal component 1	主成分2 Principal component 2	主成分3 Principal component 3	主成分4 Principal component 4	D值 D value	排序 Rank
CK	1.000	0.415	0.757	0.477	0.867	1
T0	0.288	0	0	0.791	0.235	5
T1	0.607	0.976	0.120	0.707	0.625	2
T2	0.382	1.000	0.359	1.000	0.499	3
T3	0.255	0.781	0.140	0	0.319	4
T4	0	0.591	1.000	0.617	0.205	6
权重Weight	0.717	0.157	0.090	0.036

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Effects of Exogenous Methyl Jasmonate on the Growth and Physiological and Biochemical Characteristics of Walnut Seedlings Under Salt Stress

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