Mitigation of Drought Damages by Exogenous Chitosan and Yeast Extract with Modulating the Photosynthetic Pigments, Antioxidant Defense System and Improving the Productivity of Garlic Plants

Abstract

Garlic is an important vegetable in terms of its economic value and also as a medicinal plant. In this study, chitosan (300 mM) and yeast extract (8 g/L) were used individually or in combination to improve the yields of garlic plants under drought conditions (i.e., 75% and 50% of the water they would normally receive from irrigation) for two seasons. Significant decreases in numbers of leaves per plant and plant height, plant dry weight, relative water content, and chlorophyll a and b concentrations were found in stressed garlic plants in both seasons. The greatest reductions in these characters were recorded in plants that received only 50% of the normal irrigation in both seasons. Levels of hydrogen peroxide, products of lipid peroxidation such as malondialdehyde, and superoxide, as well as percentages of electrolyte leakage, were elevated considerably and were signals of oxidative damage. The application of the yeast extract (8 g/L) or chitosan (300 mM) individually or in combination led to a remarkable increase in the most studied characters of the stressed garlic plants. The combination of yeast extract (8 g/L) plus chitosan (300 mM) led to increase plant height (44%), ascorbic acid levels (30.2%), and relative water content (36.8%), as well as the chlorophyll a (50.7%) and b concentrations (79%), regulated the proline content and levels of antioxidant enzymes in stressed garlic plants that received 75% of the normal irrigation, and this decreased the signs of oxidative stress (i.e., percentage of electrolyte leakage and levels of malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and superoxide).

Improving Yield Components and Desirable Eating Quality of Two Wheat Genotypes Using Si and NanoSi Particles under Heat Stress

“…Climate change represents a major challenge in the future that will intensively reduce crop yield [ 23 ] and the quality of staple grains [ 24 ]. Temperature flocculation during grain filling greatly affects the accumulation of protein in the developing wheat kernel and, consequently, alters the functional properties of the resulting flour, including dough properties and baking quality [ 13 , 25 ].…”

Importance of Priming Application Times on Growth, Relative Water Content and Photosynthetic Pigments of Rapeseed (Brassica napus ssp. oleifera L.) Cultivars Under Salinity Stress

“…It was determined that the RWC parameter (Figure 1) increased at the S3 dose, where the salt stress was the highest, especially in the Ch2 application. Abdelaal et al (2021) reported that the RWC increased by 36.8% in the study they applied chitosan and yeast extract to the garlic plant under water stress conditions. Mazrou et al (2021) reported that in a 2 year study in which they applied chitosan nanoparticles to Matricaria chamomilla plant, they provided an increase in RWC compared to the control, and they achieved the maximum value especially in the application of 300 mg L -1 .…”

Drought and Competition Mediate Mycorrhizal Colonization, Growth Rate, and Nutrient Uptake in Three Artemisia Species

“…Drought is a widely recognized factor that affects plant growth [ 10 , 39 ]. Plants subjected to drought typically reflect a lower production of biomass as the water reduction from soil to the plant decreases cell division and eventually is reflected in less biomass production, including the roots [ 8 ]. Some plant species allocate more biomass to the roots trying to acquire resources as a survival strategy, but when the plant species are subject to both drought and competition, this strategy might not be sufficient [ 40 ].…”

“…These annual species fiercely compete for water and nutrients with the perennial vegetation, especially at the seedling stage, quickly replacing the perennial cover with monocultures that eventually function as fuels for fire that further enhance their dominance [ 5 , 6 ]. Another challenge for plant species establishment is drought, which is a driver of successional processes in semi-arid systems and a barrier to the reestablishment of sagebrush species post-disturbance [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”