Terminal drought and seed priming improves drought tolerance in wheat

Abstract

Plants retain the preceding abiotic stress memory that may aid in attainment of tolerance to subsequent stresses. This study was conducted to evaluate the influence of terminal drought memory (drought priming) and seed priming in improving drought tolerance in wheat ( L.). During first growing season, wheat was planted in field under optimal (well-watered) and drought stress imposed at reproductive stage (BBCH growth stage 49) until maturity (BBCH growth stage 83). Seeds collected from both sources were subjected to hydropriming or osmopriming (with 1.5% CaCl solution); while, dry seed was taken as control. Treated and control seeds, from both sources, were sown in soil filled pots. After the completion of seedling emergence, pots were maintained at 50% water holding capacity (drought) or 100% water holding capacity (well-watered). Drought stress suppressed the plant growth (2-44%), perturbed water relations (1-18%) and reduced yield (192%); however, osmolytes accumulation (3-14%) and malondialdehyde contents (26-29%) were increased under drought. The crop raised from the seeds collected from terminal drought stressed plants had better growth (5-63%), improved osmolyte accumulation (13-45%), and lower lipid peroxidation (3%) than the progeny of well-watered crop. Seed priming significantly improved the crop performance under drought stress as compared to control. However, osmopriming was more effective than hydropriming in this regard as it improved leaf area (9-43%), tissue water status (2-47%), osmolytes accumulation (6-48%) and grain yield (14-79%). In conclusion, terminal drought induced modifications in seed composition and seed priming improved generational drought tolerance through improvement in tissue water status and osmolytes accumulation, and decrease in lipid peroxidation.

Efficacy of KNO3, SiO2 and SA priming for improving emergence, seedling growth and antioxidant enzymes of rice (Oryza sativa), under drought

“…Khaliq et al 40 reported that selenium priming of rice considerably improved shoot and root length, and seedling dry biomass. Tabassum et al 22 found that wheat priming with CaCl 2 and hydropriming enhanced plant height, leaf area, panicle length and grain yield under terminal drought.…”

“…Priming treatments with Si, KNO 3 and SA were reported to improve emergence, seedling growth, yield, drought and salinity tolerance of rice, maize, wheat, and barley 20 – 24 . Seed priming with SiO 2 , KNO 3 and SA were proven to improve germination, seedling growth, vigour and drought tolerance of rice, maize and wheat by stimulating increased water imbibition, activation of reserve mobilizing amylases, dehydrogenases, xylanase and variety of ROS-scavenging antioxidants 3 , 17 , 21 , 22 . Seed priming with KNO 3 , Si, and SA improved proline, soluble protein, total soluble sugar and carbohydrate contents and decreased malondialdehyde content in rice, maize and wheat 3 , 31 , 32 .…”

Pengaruh Osmopriming Benih terhadap Pertumbuhan dan Morfofisiologi Tanaman Kangkung Darat (Ipomoea reptans Poir) pada Cekaman Kekeringanngkung Darat (Ipomoea reptans Poir) pada Kondisi Kekeringan

“…Perlakuan Perlakuan Perlakuan osmopriming dapat meningkatkan prolin secara signifikan pada tingkat stres kekeringan -2.0, -3.0, dan -4.0 MPa pada biji kubis China (Yan, 2015). Dampak positif dari priming tersebut terhadap kadar prolin juga telah dibuktikan pada biji gandum (Tabassum et al, 2018), biji padi varietas Nagina-22 (N-22) dan Pusa-Sugandh-5 (PS-5) (Samota et al, 2017), dan biji Trifolium repens cv. Ladino (Cao et al, 2018).…”

Transcriptional Regulation of Protein Phosphatase 2C Genes to Modulate Abscisic Acid Signaling

“…By contrast, approximately 10 PP2C genes were identified as drought-induced memory genes in soybean grown in water-deprived soil [ 145 ]. The potential of stress memory to enhance crop productivity under drought conditions has been explored for a number of crops, including potato [ 146 ], wheat [ 147 , 148 ], and olive [ 149 ].…”