Polyethylene Glycol and Sorbitol-Mediated In Vitro Screening for Drought Stress as an Efficient and Rapid Tool to Reach the Tolerant Cucumis melo L. Genotypes

Abstract

An efficient method to instantly assess drought-tolerant plants after germination is using osmoregulation in tissue culture media. In this study, the responses of three Iranian melon genotypes to sorbitol (0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 M) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) (0.009, 0.012, and 0.015 M) were evaluated as drought stress simulators in MS medium. ‘Girke’ (GIR), ‘Ghobadloo’ (GHO), and ‘Toghermezi’ (TOG) were the genotypes. GIR is reputed as a drought-tolerant genotype in Iran. The PEG or sorbitol decreased the coleoptile length, fresh weight, and photosynthetic pigments content while enhancing proline and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents. Protein content and antioxidant enzyme activity were utterly dependent on genotype, osmotic regulators, and their concentration. Coleoptile length, root and shoot fresh weight, root dry weight, proline and MDA content, and guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) activity can be used as indicators for in vitro screening of Cucumis melo L. genotypes. The results showed that sorbitol mimics drought stress better than PEG. Overall, our findings suggest that in vitro screening could be an accurate, rapid, and reliable methodology for evaluating and identifying drought-tolerant genotypes.

Responses of In Vitro Strawberry Plants to Drought Stress under the Influence of Nano-Silicon Dioxide

“…In vitro systems are rapid screening experiments that focus on quantitative features [24]. In addition, PEG can be used as an osmotic regulator in in vitro systems to simulate drought stress, as it reduces water potentiation [25,26].…”

Alleviation of Adverse Effects of Drought Stress on Growth and Nitrogen Metabolism in Mungbean (Vigna radiata) by Sulphur and Nitric Oxide Involves Up-Regulation of Antioxidant and Osmolyte Metabolism and Gene Expression

“…Drought-induced enhancement of the ROS has previously been reported by Antonic et al [34] in Impatiens walleriana and Hajihashemi and Sofo [35] in Stevia rebaudiana, resulting in a significant decline in growth. Recently, in PEG-stressed Cucumis melo genotypes, Mehmandar et al [36] have demonstrated a significant enhancement in the H 2 O 2 and lipid peroxidation resulting in declined growth, biomass and yield production. Excess ROS affects membrane stability, electron transport, photosynthesis, protein cross-linking, protein synthesis, ion transport and enzyme activity [37].…”

“…The up-regulation of the activity of antioxidant enzymes due to PEG-induced drought stress has been reported in different crop plants including Triticum aestivum L [7], soyabean [45], Stevia rebaudiana [22] and Arachis hypogea [39]. Recently, it has been reported that the PEG-induced drought significantly up-regulates the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and plant genotypes exhibiting increased activities better tolerate the adverse growth conditions [36]. Increased functioning of antioxidant enzymes results in quick scavenging of toxic radicals, which reflects the protection of membranes, enzymes, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, etc.…”

Drought tolerance selection of several tomato varieties by using polyethylene glycol

“…The higher the concentration of PEG, the more it inhibits the osmosis process within the cells, making it difficult for water to enter the cells. This condition mimics drought stress, hindering the growth of plant roots (Mehmandar et al, 2023).…”