Effect of three water-regimes on morpho-physiological, biochemical and yield responses of local and foreign olive cultivars under field conditions

Abstract

Background Drought stress is among the most serious threats jeopardizing the economic yield of crop plants in Iran. In particular, in response to withholding irrigation, the reduction in performance and quality of a precious plant such as the olive tree is remarkable. Therefore, the selection of cultivars that are resistant or tolerant to drought has been recognized as one of the most effective long-term strategies for sustainably alleviating the adverse effects of this stress. In this view, our study evaluated the response of 8 olive cultivars including 4 elite native cultivars (Zard Aliabad, Roughani, Dezful, and Shengeh) and 4 foreign cultivars (Manzanilla, Sevillana, Konservolia, and Mission) to water shortage in the Dallaho Olive Research station of Sarpole-Zahab in Kermanshah province in 2020. Olive trees underwent 3 levels of irrigation treatment including 100% full irrigation (control), 75%, and 50% deficit irrigation. Results Based on the results, 50% deficit irrigation decreased both growth and pomological traits, but determined the highest dry matter percentage. As the severity of drought stress increased, with an accumulation of sodium and malondialdehyde, an incremental increase in osmolytes was observed, as well as an enhancement of the activity of antioxidant enzymes (peroxidase and catalase). In contrast, full irrigation led to an increase in photosynthetic pigments, calcium, and potassium. Dezful and Konservolia cultivars revealed a significantly higher growth rate, correlated in the former to higher levels of chlorophyll, compatible compounds, total phenolic content, relative water content, potassium to sodium ratio, catalase, and peroxidase activities compared with other cultivars. Konservolia showed the best yield parameters under 75% and 100% irrigation regimes, correlated to higher chlorophyll, potassium, and total phenolic content (in particular at 75% ET). Conclusions Generally, the selection of more resilient or tolerant cultivars to sustain water scarcity stress is a widely operative solution to extend rainfed orchards in semi-arid environments. Our study showed that Dezful and Konservolia had the best adaptive mechanisms to cope with the detrimental effects of drought stress.

Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Commercial Strawberry Cultivars under Optimal and Drought Stress Conditions

“…Drought stress is one of the most important environmental stresses that has a negative effect on physiological and biochemical changes and finally on the growth and yield of plants. On the other hand, different genotypes and cultivars have different reactions in response to drought [ 3 ]. In an experiment on strawberry cultivars, the greatest yield was observed in slight drought stress and there was no significant difference between control and slight stress, although severe water deficit revealed the lowest yield [ 18 ].…”

“…Drought stress as a serious environmental threat jeopardizes the yield of crop plants in Iran economically [ 3 ]. Drought is a major prevalent environmental stress limiting strawberry productivity and affecting its morphology as well as enzymatic and physiological activities [ 4 ].…”

Tolerance Mechanisms of Olive Tree (<em>Olea europaea</em>) Under Saline Conditions

“…Proline can serve as a source of nitrogen in cells under stress conditions, where its accumulation could be utilized as a form of stored N, considering that proline contributed 12.16% of leaf nitrogen [192,193]. In situations of nitrogen limitation, proline functions as an alternative metabolic substrate under conditions of stress, therefore helping the maintenance of cellular energy and the balance between NADP + and NADPH.…”

Nano‐enabled stress‐smart agriculture: Can nanotechnology deliver drought and salinity‐smart crops?

“…Drought stress also impacts the photosynthesis pigment‐protein complex, reducing PSII efficiency and the quantum yield of PSII electron transport chain (Gholami et al, 2022; Raza, Mubarik, et al, 2023; Yang & Qin, 2023). As a result, drought primarily hinders the photosynthetic process, reducing plant height, biomass and early senescence.…”