Functional Dissection of the Physiological Traits Promoting Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) Tolerance to Drought Stress

Sainfoin is a very important legume forage that is often planted in arid or semi-arid regions. As herbivorous animal husbandry develops, so does the requirement for sainfoin. However, drought is the main factor limiting the growth of sainfoin. The objective of this study is to explore the response mechanisms of sainfoin varieties/lines to drought stress, which provides the theoretical basis for tolerant breeding of sainfoin. In this study, twenty sainfoin varieties/lines were used as the test materials, the effects of drought stress on growth traits, chlorophyll concentration, leaf water content, osmotic adjustment substances, and antioxidant enzyme activities were determined under simulated levels of drought (− 0.5, − 1.0, − 1.5, and − 2.0 MPa) × exposure times (7 days) in pots. The results showed that leaf area, leaf relative water content, root-shoot ratio, root length, root surface area, root volume, root diameter, root tip number, chlorophyll a content, chlorophyll b content, and catalase activity decreased with increasing drought stress, whereas proline, soluble sugar, soluble protein, and malondialdehyde contents increased in response to drought. Root activity, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase activities increased first and then decreased and reached the maximum at − 1. 0 MPa. Cluster analysis showed that 20 sainfoin varieties/lines could be divided into 3 categories: (1) High tolerance: new line of P1, Onobrychis viciaefolia ‘Gansu’, code of 1626, and the new line of P2; (2) Moderate tolerance: code of 2323-1, the new line of P3, codes of 2323-2, 2208, 2559, 1668, 7456, 13523, 9977, 13709, 03-132 and 1; and (3) Low tolerance: codes of 2049, 9602, 6, and 7. The findings of these results will help to select the most suitable materials for sainfoin and provide some theoretical basis for cultivating new varieties.

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Potential of Seed Halopriming in the Mitigation of Salinity Stress during Germination and Seedling Establishment in Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.)

Hmissi,

Krouma,

García-Sánchez

et al. 2023

Plants

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The salinity of soils and irrigation water is among the main factors that limit plant productivity worldwide. Several alternatives have been proposed to get around this problem. However, these alternatives have faced difficulties in their implementation. As an alternative, the adverse effects of salinity on crop yield can be minimized by selecting species and varieties better adapted to salinity and/or by finding priming agents that give plants a certain tolerance during the vegetative and reproductive stages. The latter are strictly dependent on germination and seedling establishment. For this purpose, a laboratory experiment was conducted on three Tunisian wheat cultivars (Karim, Razeg, and Maali) subjected to moderate salinity stress (MSS, 5 g L−1 NaCl), severe salinity stress (SSS, 10 g L−1 NaCl), or control (0 NaCl) after soaking the seeds in a solution of KNO3 or ZnSO4 (0.5 g L−1). Salinity stress significantly decreased germination capacity (GC) and induced osmotic stress under MSS, which declined under SSS in favor of toxic stress. Pretreatment of seeds with KNO3 or ZnSO4 alleviated the toxic effect, and seedlings recovered initial vigor and GC even under SSS. The Karim cultivar showed better tolerance to salinity and a higher ability to react to priming agents. The calculated sensitivity tolerance index (STI) based on germination capacity, seedling growth, and initial vigor decreased in all cultivars under salt stress; however, this parameter clearly discriminated the studied cultivars. Karim was the most tolerant as compared to Razeg and Maali. We conclude that halopriming provides a benefit by alleviating the harmful effects of salt toxicity and that cultivars differ in their response to priming and extent of salt stress. KNO3 and ZnSO4 effectively alleviated the inhibitory effect of salt stress on seed germination and seedling establishment while significantly improving initial vigor.

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Functional Dissection of the Physiological Traits Promoting Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) Tolerance to Drought Stress

Cited by 4 publications

References 56 publications

Biochemical Mechanisms in Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) under Abiotic Stress, Grown in a Hydroponic System

Biochemical Mechanisms in Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) under Abiotic Stress, Grown in a Hydroponic System

Differences of morphological and physiological responses of sainfoin varieties/lines under simulated drought stresses

Potential of Seed Halopriming in the Mitigation of Salinity Stress during Germination and Seedling Establishment in Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.)

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