Comprehensive Screening of Some West and Central African Sesame Genotypes for Drought Resistance Probing by Agromorphological, Physiological, Biochemical and Seed Quality Traits

Abstract

Abstract:Sesame is an important crop in West and Central Africa playing a role of an alternative cash crop for smallholders. However, sesame productivity is highly impaired by drought. This study aimed at identifying some drought-resistant genotypes and efficient screening traits in large sesame germplasm. Ten genotypes were examined based on 21 biochemical, physiological, agromorphological and seed quality traits under three weeks of water stress. A high variability for drought resistance was observed among the genotypes. The genotypes WC17, WC18 and WC14 were drought resistant, WC12, WC13, WC06 and WC03 were moderately drought resistant while, WC02, WC10 and WC08 were drought sensitive, based on principal component analysis. The resistant genotypes exhibited both avoidance and tolerance features including increase of the root system, reduced water loss, highest activity of antioxidative enzymes and accumulation of proline. They produced higher biomass and had higher ability to maintain seed quality under drought stress compared with the sensitive genotypes. Strong accumulation (~200% ratio stress/control) of biochemical markers including superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, catalase and proline could be regarded as an important indicator for selecting drought resistant genotypes. This study represents a reference for future research towards developing new varieties with improved drought resistance in West and Central Africa.

Antimicrobial Efficacy, Physico- Nutritional Profile of Sesamum Indicum L. Seed and Seed Oil Indigenous to Kpk, Pakistan

“…The results are in accordance with the findings of other researchers who reported exactly the same values for surface tension, specific gravity, and viscosity [26-29]. The saponification values of our study are in strong agreement with those of Nzikou et al, Dossa et al and CODEX standards[30,31, 22]. Results of the acid number, iodine number, and peroxide values of our study were in compliance with Nzikou et al[30].…”

First Report of Sesame Mutants Tolerant to Severe Drought Stress during Germination and Early Seedling Growth Stages

“…However, in arid and semiarid areas, drought often occurs conjointly with heat or high temperatures and impairs sesame production significantly [2,3]. Harmful effects on sesame seed yield and quality are markedly noticed when this water stress happens, especially at germination and flowering stages [7][8][9][10]. Severe or prolonged drought adversely influences sesame productivity by reducing the number of capsules per plant, the yield, and the quality of the oil [11][12][13].…”

Growth, Secondary Metabolites and Enzyme Activity Responses of Two Edible Fern Species to Drought Stress and Rehydration in Northeast China

“…Drought stress has a lot of negative effects on plants, such as inhibiting photosynthesis and growth, destroying the stability of membranes and leading to a series of physiological reactions [50][51][52][53]. In addition, severe drought stress can cause plant deaths and crop yield reduction [15,54].…”

“…Previous studies have focused on crops, ornamental plants, etc. [10,15,51,53], however, little research has been done on the drought resistance of wild vegetables. M. struthiopteris and A. multidentatum as important wild vegetables and Chinese medicine in Northeast China, are sensitive to water condition [35,55].…”