Effects of Cucurbitacin B on Growth and Physio-biochemical Traits of 'Yayao' Lagenaria siceraria Seedlings

Jiang Yiyue; Zhang Xiaodi; Mu Hongmei; Qi Meng

doi:10.14083/j.issn.1001-4942.2025.04.009

Abstract：In this experiment,'Yayao' Lagenaria siceraria was used as test material,and six concentra-tions of cucurbitacin B were set for hydroponics,which were 0.00 mg/mL(CK,water),1.20 mg/mL(B1),3.60 mg/mL(B2),6.00 mg/mL(B3),8.40 mg/mL(B4)and 10.80 mg/mL(B5).Their effects on seed germination and seedling growth physiology of L.siceraria were studied.The results showed that the content of cucurbitacin B in rhizosphere soil of 5-year continuous cropping L.siceraria was 33 times that in the unplanted soil.Different concentrations of cucurbitacin B had different effects on seed germination,seedling growth and root development.Low concentration of cucurbitacin B promoted the growth of seedlings,and the strongest pro-motion effect occurred when the cucurbitacin B concentration was 6.00 mg/mL.Compared with CK,the plant height increased by 34.36％,the root volume increased by 69.05％,and the activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD),catalase(CAT)and peroxidase(POD)were 1.22,1.24 and 1.32 times of that in CK,respectively.The expression levels of SOD,CAT and POD genes reached the maximum and increased by 62.60％,42.86％and 41.79％,respectively,compared with CK,and the photosynthetic parameters were significantly improved.When the concentration of cucurbitacin B increased to 10.80 mg/mL,the growth of seedlings was inhibited.Compared with CK,the plant height decreased by 5.97％,the root volume decreased by 35.71％,the activi-ties of SOD,CAT and POD decreased by 7.10％,3.44％and 3.75％,respectively,the expression levels of SOD,CAT and POD genes were the smallest and decreased by 30.53％,11.28％and 16.42％,respectively,and the photosynthetic parameters were reduced.The results of this study showed that the long years of contin-uous cropping should be avoided in the production of L.siceraria,which might affect the efficient and high-quality development of L.siceraria industry.The results could provide technical references for the scientific planting of L.siceraria in Dongchangfu District of Liaocheng.