10th International Conference, Plant Functioning Under Environmental Stress, September 16-19, 2015, Cracow, Poland

Impact of soil compaction stress combined with drought or waterlogging on physiological and biochemical markers in two maize hybrids

“…Elevated level of soil compaction can be a result of many natural processes and excessive use of heavy machinery in cultivation (Jones et al 1989;McKersie and Lesheim 1994;Masle 2002;Ashraf 2010;Grzesiak 2016). Important factors affecting plant development under soil compaction are water status, soil aeration and resistance.…”

“…In the conditions of high compaction plant growth is restricted and plants become more vulnerable to unfavourable soil water content resulting from too little or too much rain. (Ripley et al 2007;Chen and Weil 2010;Grzesiak 2016).…”

“…Soil compaction sensitive and resistant hybrids were chosen based on our previous experience (Grzesiak et al 2013a, b;Grzesiak 2016). Generally, combined exposure to two or more abiotic stresses causes a more harmful effect compared to a single stress.…”

“…The degree of susceptibility of maize to the combined stresses of soil compaction with drought or flooding is a desirable physiological research target, and discovering the physiological mechanism and exploring strategies conferring crosstolerance in maize are important agronomic interests. Determination of physiological markers (soil, root and leaf water potential, electrolyte leakage, chlorophyll a content, gas exchange parameters, ABA content and antioxidant activity) may explain how maize manages its growth under environmental multistress (Grzesiak 2016).…”