Zinc and methyl jasmonate modulate the growth and the volatile compounds of the 'Albahaca Dante' basil cultivated in vitro

Abstract

The species Ocimum basilicum has many cultivars with different chemotypes. The basil cultivar ‘Albahaca Dante’ has great economic potential. Nevertheless, there is little data about the production of volatiles and the growth using elicitors. This study aims to evaluate growth, physiological disorders, enzymatic activity, biochemistry, stomatal analysis, and the volatile compounds of Ocimum basilicum L.' Albahaca Dante' cultivated in vitro under different concentrations of zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) and methyl jasmonate (MeJa). The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design (CRD). Five treatments were evaluated based on the combination of MeJa x Zinc Sulfate, using a Murashige and Skoog medium. The results demonstrate that MeJa reduced the formation of abnormal seedlings. Nevertheless, the growth and the number of leaves were not incremented compared in half without elicitors. The number of volatile compounds was lower in the treatment without elicitors and with 25µM ZnSO4 + 1µMMeja. Methyl chavicol was the main compound in both treatments. In this case, the seedlings had smaller stomata with higher density. The seedlings that were developed under unfavorable conditions (75µM ZnSO4 + 1µM MeJa and 75µM ZnSO4 + 5µM MeJa) produced compounds such as Eugenol, Linalool, Methyleugenol, α-Bergamotene, and showed a reduction in the stomatal density, but larger size. The elicitors influenced the activity of antioxidant enzymes, except for 75µM ZnSO4 + 1µM MeJa, which occasioned an acute decrease of all enzymes. The elicitors altered the volatile composition of this basil cultivar and its biochemical responses