H2O2 priming promotes salt tolerance in maize by protecting chloroplasts ultrastructure and primary metabolites modulation

•H2O2 priming alleviates the harmful effects of NaCl-stress in maize plants.•H2O2 priming modulates metabolites considered as biomarkers.•H2O2 priming preserves the chloroplast ultrastructure against salt stress damage. Hydrogen peroxide priming has emerged as a powerful strategy to trigger multiple responses involved in plant acclimation that reinforce tolerance to abiotic stresses, including salt stress. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the impact of foliar H2O2 priming on the physiological, biochemical, and ultrastructural traits related to photosynthesis of salt-stressed plants. Besides, we provided comparative leaf metabolomic profiles of Zea mays plants under such conditions. For this, H2O or H2O2 pretreated plants were grown under saline conditions for 12-days. Salinity drastically affected photosynthetic parameters and structural chloroplasts integrity, also increased reactive oxygen species contents promoting disturbance in the plant metabolism when compared to non-saline conditions. Our results suggest that H2O2-pretreated plants improved photosynthetic performance avoiding salinity-induced energy excess and ultrastructural damage by preserving stacking thylakoids. It displayed modulation of some metabolites, as arabitol, glucose, asparagine, and tyrosine, which may contribute to the maintenance of osmotic balance and reduced oxidative stress. Hence, our study brings new insights into an understanding of plant acclimation to salinity by H2O2 priming based on photosynthesis maintenance and metabolite modulation.