Waterlogging Causes Early Modification in the Physiological Performance, Carotenoids, Chlorophylls, Proline, and Soluble Sugars of Cucumber Plants

Abstract

Waterlogging occurs because of poor soil drainage and/or excessive rainfall and is a serious abiotic stress affecting plant growth because of declining oxygen supplied to submerged tissues. Although cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is sensitive to waterlogging, its ability to generate adventitious roots facilitates gas diffusion and increases plant survival when oxygen concentrations are low. To understand the physiological responses to waterlogging, a 10-day waterlogging experiment was conducted. The objective of this study was to measure the photosynthetic and key metabolites of cucumber plants under waterlogging conditions for 10 days. Plants were also harvested at the end of 10 days and analyzed for plant height (ht), leaf number and area, fresh mass (FM), dry mass (DM), chlorophyll (Chl), carotenoid (CAR), proline, and soluble sugars. Results indicated that cucumber plants subjected to the 10-day waterlogging stress conditions were stunted, had fewer leaves, and decreased leaf area, FM, and DM. There were differences in physiological performance, Chl, CAR, proline, and soluble sugars. Overall, waterlogging stress decreased net photosynthesis (A), having a negative effect on biomass accumulation. However, these decreases were also dependent on other factors, such as plant size, morphology, and water use efficiency (WUE) that played a role in the overall metabolism of the plant.

Oxidative Damage and Antioxidant Defense in Sesamum indicum after Different Waterlogging Durations

“…Proline acts as an osmoprotectant molecule, maintaining and improving the water status of plants. Proline also acts as an antioxidant, protecting the cell from free radical damage and maintaining the cellular environment for the better synthesis of biomolecules that play a role in stress adaptation [40]. Unlike many other studies, Pro content was decreased in plants grown under prolonged waterlogging (6 and 8 days), which was supported by other studies [41,42,43,44].…”

Silicon Alleviate Hypoxia Stress by Improving Enzymatic and Non-enzymatic Antioxidants and Regulating Nutrient Uptake in Muscadine Grape (Muscadinia rotundifolia Michx.)

“…Our findings coincide with the earlier report, in which waterlogging (hypoxia) adversely affected the development of root biomass and subsequently led to compromised plant growth and development ( de San Celedonio et al, 2016 ). Under hypoxia conditions, dispersal of oxygen is 320K times lower than in aerated soils, which ultimately hinders plant growth ( Barickman et al, 2019 ; da Ponte et al, 2019 ). However, our findings revealed that the use of Si and SiNPs could improve the growth and dry biomass of muscadine grape plants.…”

“…Oxygen deficiency limits plants’ gas exchange attributes and results in an impaired photosynthetic activity ( He et al, 2018 ; Barickman et al, 2019 ). In this study, hypoxia stress caused a reduction in green pigments, stomatal conductance, and internal CO 2 concentration.…”

Harnessing the Potential of Plant Transcription Factors in Developing Climate-Smart Crops: Future Prospects, Challenges, and Opportunities

“…Different plant processes, i.e., cytoplasmic pH, cellular energy, stem elongation, and adventitious root formation decreases. In addition, fresh and dry mass decrease; and the electrontransport chain and CO2 assimilation are also affected [78]. Furthermore, toxic compounds and ROS accumulated.…”