Alterations in Protein and Esterase Patterns of Peanut in Response to Salinity Stress

The ability of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) to grow at high concentrations of NaCl may be due to the alteration in gene expression. SDS-PAGE analysis has revealed that plants grown under NaCl showed induction (127 and 52 kDa) or repression (260 and 38 kDa) in the synthesis of few polypeptides. In addition, nine different esterase isoenzymes were detected in embryos of seeds germinated in 105 mM NaCl, whereas only five of them were detected in the embryos of untreated seeds. On the other hand, in the cotyledons, the esterase pattern was not affected by NaCl concentration. The esterase patterns of both stems and leaves were less influenced by NaCl in comparison to those of roots. The lipid contents, and fresh and dry masses were increased up to 45 mM NaCl and decreased at higher concentrations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.