Assessing drought tolerance in field-grown sunflower hybrids by chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics

Abstract

Drought is one of the most damaging abiotic stress factors commonly experienced by plants, resulting in a significant loss of crop yield worldwide. The aim of the study was to assess drought tolerance of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) hybrids and find out potentially underlying photobiological traits. Experiment was conducted in the agricultural field of Eastern Mediterranean Agricultural Research Institute in Adana. To evaluate the drought tolerance of twenty-six sunflower hybrids polyphasic chlorophyll fluorescence measurements were performed at the three growth stages named as vegetative, head formation and milky seed (stress 1, S1; stress 2, S2; stress 3, S3, respectively). The hybrids were classified from drought tolerant to drought sensitive based on their drought factor index (DFI) values calculated from photosynthetic performance index. 9444 A X 9947 R and 9444 A X 8129 R were determined as the most tolerant hybrids, whereas 2453 A X 8129 R and 7751 A X TT 135 R were determined as the most sensitive hybrids. Severe drought stress (S2) inhibited severely both the donor and the acceptor sides of photosystem II in sensitive hybrids. Photosynthetic structures of drought-tolerant hybrids were less damaged by drought stress, consequently these hybrids could maintain their photosynthetic performances (minor changes in φ Po , ψ o , δ Ro , specific and/or phenomenological energy fluxes) approximately control levels under severe drought condition. As a result, results, 9444 A X 9947 R and 9444 A X 8129 R hybrids could be recommended to be used in the breeding programs and further studies as genetic material and to be grown in drought-prone areas.

Linking changes in chlorophyll a fluorescence with drought stress susceptibility in mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek]

“…The performance index is more sensitive to abiotic stresses than the QY of PSII (F v /F m ) (Çiçek et al, 2019;Zivcak et al, 2009). The rate of cates that drought-tolerant cultivar reduces the effective antenna size and absorbed energy.…”

“…Moreover, substantial increase in the relative variable fluorescence (ΔV OI ) and smaller amplitude of I step only in the drought‐sensitive cv. NM‐54 suggested that drought stress caused a disturbance in the intersystem electron transport that resulted in limited electron transport to the last electron acceptor of PSI as observed in sunflower inbred lines under drought stress (Çiçek et al, 2019). The drought stress increased (20%) ΔIP in the drought‐tolerant cultivar NM‐13‐1 Tol , while it decreased in drought‐sensitive cv.…”

“…Studies have found that both PI ABS and F v /F m are very sensitive indexes that can be used to indicate the photosynthetic physiological status of plants and to evaluate their health status under stressful conditions (Kalaji et al, 2016). The performance index is more sensitive to abiotic stresses than the QY of PSII (F v /F m ) (Çiçek et al, 2019; Zivcak et al, 2009). The rate of accumulation of closed reaction centres (M o ), energy fluxes for absorption fluxes (ABS/RC), trapping (TR o /RC) and electron transport (ET o /RC) increased in cv.…”

Comparative Study of Drought Stress Effects on Traditional and Modern Apple Cultivars

“…The aims of this study were (1) to elucidate the adaptation mechanisms of two traditional apple cultivars to drought-stressed conditions in comparison with commercial cultivar; (2) to obtain information about the genetic potential of drought stress tolerance of these traditional cultivars for the future production and breeding of new apple cultivars. Measuring chlorophyll a fluorescence has been widely used as a non-destructive method to analyze the structure and function of the photosynthetic apparatus, particularly PS II, under different abiotic stresses, including drought stress [26][27][28]. In this study we investigated the drought tolerance of selected apple cultivars by OJIP (chlorophyll a fluorescence analysis).…”

A Novel Approach Integrating Intuitionistic Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process and Goal Programming for Chickpea Cultivar Selection under Stress Conditions

“…Maximum Quantum Efficiency of PSII of Dark Adapted Plants (FV/FM) is the ratio of variable fluorescence to maximum fluorescence, which is the measurement of maximum quantum yield of PSII, and the alterations of this parameter are correlated with degradation of membrane integrity. Performance Index on Absorption Basis (PIABS) is an aggregated performance index parameter that hosts three independent parameters that cumulatively quantify total functionality of the electron flux through PSII and indicates the vitality of the plant [26]. Absorption Flux per Reaction Centre (ABS/RC) specifies effective antenna size by proportioning absorbed photons to active reaction centers, and an increase of ABS/RC indicates a C 0 is the state in which all seeds are grown under control conditions for 15 days at 25 • C. Until this state, the seeds are allowed to be germinated in controlled conditions and seedlings have 4-5 leaves.…”