Improvement of drought tolerance in five different cultivars of Vicia faba with foliar application of ascorbic acid or silicon

Abstract

Aim of study: To explore the role of ascorbic acid (AsA) or silicon (Si) in improving drought tolerance in five faba bean cultivars under irrigation water deficit (IWD).Area of study: The experimental farm; 30° 36′ N, 32° 16′ E, Egypt.Material and methods: Three drip irrigation regimes (WW, well-watered, 4000 m3 water ha-1; MD, moderate drought, 3000 m3 water ha-1; and SD, severe drought, 2000 m3 water ha-1) were applied to plants, which were sprayed 25, 40, and 55 days after sowing with 1.5 mM AsA or 2.0 mM Si vs distilled water as a control.Main results: Drought negatively affected physiological attributes (photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange parameters, relative water content, membrane stability index, electrolyte leakage (EL), and lipid peroxidation), which restricted plant growth and yields, and stimulated alterations in both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities. However, AsA or Si application mitigated drought effects on physiological attributes, improving growth, yields and water use efficiency by raising antioxidant activities and suppressing lipid peroxidation and EL in stressful cultivars. The mitigating effects of AsA and Si were more pronounced under MD.Research highlights: ‘Nubaria-2’, ‘Giza-843’, and ‘Sakha-3’ were more tolerant than ‘Giza-716’ and ‘Sakha-4’, suggesting the use of AsA or Si to ameliorate the IWD effects on stressful cultivars. Certain physiological traits exhibited positive association with growth and seed yield, demonstrating their importance in enhancing seed yield under irrigation treatments.

Silymarin-Enriched Biostimulant Foliar Application Minimizes the Toxicity of Cadmium in Maize by Suppressing Oxidative Stress and Elevating Antioxidant Gene Expression

“…These positive results examined in this study were positively reflected in maize plant growth and dry matter accumulation ( Figure 1 , Table 6 ). Our findings are consistent with those in [ 2 , 5 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. Restoration of growth and dry matter accumulation of Cd-stressed maize plants are also due to the positive impacts of proline, AsA, and GSH present in MEg-Sm on increasing hormones (e.g., IAA, GA 1 , GA 3 , cytokinins including trans-zeatin, SA) content and homeostasis, which are necessary to restore the developmental growth of stressed plants [ 20 , 23 , 60 , 61 , 62 ].…”

“…Among the major growth stimulators present in MEg-Sm, proline, AsA, and GSH contents were greatly increased in Cd-stressed plants and contributed to stabilizing and maintaining cell membranes against stress damage [ 2 , 5 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. These positive effects of these antioxidants might be attributed to their roles in minimizing the Cd content or other toxic elements and the levels of oxidative stress markers (O 2 • − and H 2 O 2 ; Figure 2 , Table 6 ), thus minimizing lipid peroxidation in cell membranes.…”

Pure Organic Active Compounds Against Abiotic Stress: A Biostimulant Overview

“…The authors supposed that this result was due to the variety of molecules and nutrients present in orange juice that may enhance the stress response more than ascorbic acid alone. Treatment with ascorbic acid was also found to increase the growth and seed yield of common bean ( Phaseoulus vulgaris , Gaafar et al, 2020 ) and broadbean ( V. faba L., Desoky et al, 2020 ) under water stress. In another study, the tolerance to drought stress of pepper plants ( C. annuum L) increased with ascorbic acid treatment, by increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes, but growth and yield were affected compared to those achieved with full irrigation ( Khazaei et al, 2020 ).…”

Exogenously Used 24-Epibrassinolide Promotes Drought Tolerance in Maize Hybrids by Improving Plant and Water Productivity in an Arid Environment

“…With the expected rise of IWD in the coming time period due to climate change, this stress will primarily threaten the stability of the management and production of maize crops [ 9 , 10 , 23 , 24 ]. Therefore, it is very important to find approaches to elevate IWD tolerance in maize to enhance plant growth and production [ 25 , 26 ]. The most efficient approach to solve the problem is developing drought-tolerant maize hybrids, which needs a profound comprehension of the mechanisms in drought stress responses in maize.…”

“…The most efficient approach to solve the problem is developing drought-tolerant maize hybrids, which needs a profound comprehension of the mechanisms in drought stress responses in maize. However, developing drought-tolerant hybrids require considerable effort, a long time, and high economical investments [ 26 , 27 ]. Therefore, some approaches can be helpful in this regard [ 6 , 26 , 28 , 29 ], including the use of plant hormones to enhance plant performance and output under IWD conditions [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”