Drought Induced Interactive Changes in Physiological and Biochemical Attributes of Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum)

Abstract

Cotton is a drought tolerant plant which adapts the dehydrated conditions through significant ameliorations in its internal physiochemical activities. The objectives of present investigation were to examine its adaptive response to different intensities of dehydration stress under extreme arid climate of desert and quantify the extent of interactions between physiological and biochemical attributes in the course of drought adaptation. A micro scale field trial was conducted on southern oasis of Taklamakan desert, in which cotton was grown in soil buried 1 m 3 pots using four deficit irrigation levels. Results revealed that drought stress significantly enhanced the concentrations of abscisic acid (ABA), proline, total soluble sugars (TSS), and potassium ions (K +) in cotton leaves, while, rates of photosynthesis (A), stomatal conductance (gs.), and transpiration (E) declined. On an average, the plants replenished with 80, 60, and 40% irrigation, accumulated relatively 37, 98 and 155% more quantities of stress combating biochemical substances than normal plants, respectively. The stomatal density on abaxial leaf surface increased, while, aperture and leaf water potential significantly reduced. Consequently, the average rate of photosynthetic attributes reduced by 7, 32, and 52% at 80, 60 and 40% irrigation replenishments, respectively. These results suggested that decline in leaf gas exchange activities was indeed a modulating effect of drought induced osmoprotectants enrichment in leaf tissues, thus cotton plants adapted the drought intensities of desert environment. However, further micro irrigation based large scale studies on water use optimization of cotton under desert ambiances are inevitable.

Differential physio-biochemical and yield responses of Camelina sativa L. under varying irrigation water regimes in semi-arid climatic conditions

“…Drier soil conditions due to decreased irrigation significantly reduced the performance of leaf gas exchange attributes ( P N , E and G s ) in both camelina genotypes compared to normal irrigation (I 0 ). Results of this study are in agreement with [ 50 ] who observed a similar decrease in leaf gas exchange traits of camelina and cotton [ 51 ] under water limited conditions. This decrease in the performance of photosynthetic gas exchange traits appears to be the consequence of chlorophyll destruction and stomatal limitations in response to water shortages [ 29 , 52 ].…”

“…Drier soil conditions due to decreased irrigation significantly reduced the performance of leaf gas exchange attributes (P N , E and G s ) in both camelina genotypes compared to normal irrigation (I 0 ). Results of this study are in agreement with [50] who observed a similar decrease in leaf gas exchange traits of camelina and cotton [51] under water limited conditions. This…”

Water use efficiency and yield responses of cotton to field capacity-based deficit irrigation in an extremely arid area of China

“…Consistent with these results, Shareef et al also reported that drought induced interactive changes in physiological and biochemical attributes of cotton according to the field capacity based deficit irrigation experiment in the same area in 2015 and 2016. Thus, deficit irrigation could necessarily be an appropriate yield optimization and water saving technique for cotton in desert environment [22] . Application of θ fc -based regulated deficit irrigation in surface-irrigated cotton fields showed great potential towards saving water, improving seed cotton yield and maintaining high WUE in an extremely arid region in northwest China.…”

“…This region's contribution rose from 40% of China's cotton production in 2007 to 50% in 2012 and 60.8% in 2017 [18] . Being a drought and salt tolerant plant [19][20][21] , cotton can be successfully grown under conditions of adverse to extreme water scarcity [22] . Given rising yields and net profits per unit area over the last two decades, the area of irrigated cotton production has expanded rapidly [23][24][25][26] .…”

Improving photosynthetic characteristics and antioxidant enzyme activity of capsule wall and subtending leaves increases cotton biomass under limited irrigation system

“…In this area, an insufficient water supply is the main obstacle to cotton production. Cotton is a drought-tolerant plant that adapts to dry conditions through significant responses in its internal physiochemical activities (Shareef et al 2018). Therefore, cotton plant drought tolerance ability and tapping the potential of biological water saving can effectively promote the efficient and sustainable development of cotton in Xinjiang.…”