THE EFFECT OF WATER STRESS ON SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS IN 'RASHE' AND 'KHOSHNAVE' GRAPE CULTIVARS

Water stress in one of the most important abiotic stresses that affects the productivity of many crop species worldwide. In addition, the climate change creates new challenges for crop adaptation especially as water resources become limited and the increase in water stress becomes more pronounced even in areas where there is adequate water supply. The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of water stress on physiological characteristics of five cultivars of basil under field conditions. Water stress affected leaf temperature, dry herb yield, leaf water potential, assimilation rate and gas exchange parameters, quantum yield, instantaneous water use efficiency (WUE), and essential oil content. From the physiological characteristics water potential and assimilation rate can be used for the selection of basil cultivars tolerant to water stress. In addition, essential oil content was lower under water stress indicating that essential oil content is correlated with water availability. From the present study it is obvious that there are tolerant basil cultivars to water stress and can be found using physiological traits such as water potential and assimilation rate and can be used to save and use water more sustainable and also conserve the water resources.

Download Full-text

Effect of water stress on selected physiological characteristics of tomatoes

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis ◽

10.11118/actaun201058010131 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 58 (1) ◽

pp. 131-138 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Robert Pokluda ◽

Kristína Petříková ◽

Mohamed Ewis Abdelaziz ◽

Aleš Jezdinský

Keyword(s):

Water Stress ◽

Aminolevulinic Acid ◽

Proline Content ◽

Physiological Characteristics ◽

Leaf Water Content ◽

Stress Treatment ◽

Effect Of Water ◽

Water Conditions ◽

Reliable Parameter ◽

Proline Concentration

This work presents the results of a field experiment with tomato cv. Proton grown under water stress conditions and under well irrigated conditions. At the same time, the effects of Pentakeep supporting agent (consisting of aminolevulinic acid) was studied. The following characteristics of plant physiology were studied – specific leaf area (SLA), leaf water content (LWC) and leaf proline concentration.The obtained results show a significant decrease in SLA during plant vegetation (from 190 to 165 cm−2 . g−1). A decrease was also found under water stress treatment (163 cm−2 . g−1), in contrast to the well watered control (184 cm−2 . g). LWC values ranged from 81 to 87 % in both seasons. A significantly important decrease of LWC was found in the stressed variant. Pentakeep application did not affect either SLA or LWC characteristics.The level of proline in tomato leaves varied from 0.6 to 1.5 μmol . g−1. The highly significant effect of water conditions resulted in the increase of proline content under water stress treatment. Although Pentakeep increased the proline content by 9 %, its effect was not of significant importance. The proline content was also influenced by the date of sampling.The results indicate that physiological characteristics, such as SLA, LWC and proline content, are good indicators of water stress in tomato, proline content being a particularly reliable parameter corresponding to the actual water stress of plants.

Download Full-text