Exogenous caffeic acid alters molecular responses in Salvia hispanica L.

Abstract

Salt stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses, resulting in the accumulation of ROS, which amount to great agricultural losses by influencing plant yield and in turn threaten sustainable agriculture and food security worldwide. ROS accumulates to levels that can become toxic to plants and is dependent on the scavenging ability of the antioxidant system to maintain redox homeostasis. Caffeic acid (CA) is a known antioxidant that have been shown to reduce the formation/production of ROS in legume plants exposed to salt stress. However, its' effect on pseudocereal plants such as chia have not been elucidated. This study investigated the influence of exogenous caffeic acid (at a final concentration of 100 ?M) on the physiological and biochemical responses of chia plants under salt stress (100 mM). Furthermore, this study also investigated how caffeic acid and salt stress influenced protein changes in chia leaves using gel based proteomic analysis coupled with mass spectrometry.