Physiological and Biochemical Responses to Heat Stress on Barley Seedlings and Their Impact on Growth and Yield

Abstract

HE PRESENT study was carried out to investigate the effect of two … temperature degrees (30&40°C) on physiological and biochemical aspects of barley seedlings and their impact on growth and yield. Plant height, number of tillers, fresh weight, dry weight, flag leaf area were generally reduced following exposure to heat stress ranging between 2 and 8 hours., while relative water content was increased indicating attempts by plant to resist temperature elevation. The contents of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b decreased significantly in leaves exposed to all treatments of heat stress while carotenoids decreased as the stress duration was prolonged. Correlation was evident between growth, some yield parameters (peduncle length, biological yield, spike length, number of spike per plant, kernels weight) and yield index. Changes in SDS protein profiles indicated the occurrence of a number of biochemical responses; some of them were positively associated with heat stress, while the others were negatively associated with heat stress.