scholarly journals A Novel Protein Hydrolysate-Based Biostimulant Improves Tomato Performances under Drought Stress

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 783
Author(s):  
Silvana Francesca ◽  
Valerio Cirillo ◽  
Giampaolo Raimondi ◽  
Albino Maggio ◽  
Amalia Barone ◽  
...  

Abiotic stresses adversely affect crop production causing yield reductions in important crops, including tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Among the different abiotic stresses, drought is considered to be the most critical one, since limited water availability negatively impacts plant growth and development, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. The aim of this study was to understand how biostimulants may interact with critical physiological response mechanisms in tomato under limited water availability and to define strategies to improve tomato performances under drought stress. We investigated the physiological responses of the tomato genotype ‘E42’ grown in open fields under optimal conditions (100% irrigation) and limited water availability (50% irrigation) treated or not with a novel protein hydrolysate-based biostimulant (CycoFlow, Agriges, BN, Italy). Plants treated with the protein hydrolysate showed a better water status and pollen viability, which also resulted in higher yield under drought stress compared to untreated plants. The treatment with the biostimulant had also an effect on antioxidant contents and activity in leaves and fruits depending on the level of irrigation provided. Altogether, these results indicate that the application of protein hydrolysates on tomato improved plant performances under limited water availability and in different experimental fields.

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaymee R. Encabo ◽  
Reena Jesusa A. Macalalad-Cabral ◽  
Jerlie Mhay K. Matres ◽  
Sapphire Charlene Thea P. Coronejo ◽  
Gilda B. Jonson ◽  
...  

Infection of viruses in plants often modifies plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. In the present study we examined the effects of Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV) infection on drought response in rice. RTSV infection delayed the onset of leaf rolling by 1–2 days. During the delay in drought response, plants infected with RTSV showed higher stomatal conductance and less negative leaf water potential under drought than those of uninfected plants, indicating that RTSV-infected leaves were more hydrated. Other growth and physiological traits of plants under drought were not altered by infection with RTSV. An expression analysis of genes for drought response-related transcription factors showed that the expression of OsNAC6 and OsDREB2a was less activated by drought in RTSV-infected plants than in uninfected plants, further suggesting improved water status of the plants due to RTSV infection. RTSV accumulated more in plants under drought than in well-watered plants, indicating the increased susceptibility of rice plants to RTSV infection by drought. Collectively, these results indicated that infection with RTSV can transiently mitigate the influence of drought stress on rice plants by increasing leaf hydration, while drought increased the susceptibility of rice plants to RTSV.


Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brito ◽  
Dinis ◽  
Moutinho-Pereira ◽  
Correia

Increasing consciousness regarding the nutritional value of olive oil has enhanced the demand for this product and, consequently, the expansion of olive tree cultivation. Although it is considered a highly resilient and tolerant crop to several abiotic stresses, olive growing areas are usually affected by adverse environmental factors, namely, water scarcity, heat and high irradiance, and are especially vulnerable to climate change. In this context, it is imperative to improve agronomic strategies to offset the loss of productivity and possible changes in fruit and oil quality. To develop more efficient and precise measures, it is important to look for new insights concerning response mechanisms to drought stress. In this review, we provided an overview of the global status of olive tree ecology and relevance, as well the influence of environmental abiotic stresses in olive cultivation. Finally, we explored and analysed the deleterious effects caused by drought (e.g., water status and photosynthetic performance impairment, oxidative stress and imbalance in plant nutrition), the most critical stressor to agricultural crops in the Mediterranean region, and the main olive tree responses to withstand this stressor.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2998
Author(s):  
Vita Antoniuk ◽  
Kiril Manevski ◽  
Kirsten Kørup ◽  
Rene Larsen ◽  
Inge Sandholt ◽  
...  

Precision irrigation is a promising method to mitigate the impacts of drought stress on crop production with the optimal use of water resources. However, the reliable assessment of plant water status has not been adequately demonstrated, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) offer great potential for spatiotemporal improvements. This study utilized UAS equipped with multispectral and thermal sensors to detect and quantify drought stress in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using the Water Deficit Index (WDI). Biennial field experiments were conducted on coarse sand soil in Denmark and analyses were performed at both diurnal and seasonal timescales. The WDI was significantly correlated with leaf stomatal conductance (R2 = 0.61–0.73), and the correlation was weaker with leaf water potential (R2 = 0.39–0.56) and topsoil water status (the highest R2 of 0.68). A semi-physical model depicting the relationship between WDI and fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW) in the root zone was derived with R2 = 0.74. Moreover, WDI estimates were improved using an energy balance model with an iterative scheme to estimate the net radiation and land surface temperature, as well as the dual crop coefficient. The diurnal variation in WDI revealed a pattern of the ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration, being higher in the morning, decreasing at noon hours and ‘recovering’ in the afternoon. Future work should investigate the temporal upscaling of evapotranspiration, which may be used to develop methods for site-specific irrigation recommendations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6582
Author(s):  
Syeda Fasiha Amjad ◽  
Nida Mansoora ◽  
Samia Yaseen ◽  
Afifa Kamal ◽  
Beenish Butt ◽  
...  

On a global scale, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a widely cultivated crop among all cereals. Increasing pollution, population expansion, socio-economic development, ecological and industrial policies have induced changes in overall climatic attributes. The impact of these factors on agriculture dynamics has led to various biotic and abiotic stresses, i.e., significant decline in rainfall, directly affect sustainable agriculture. Increasing abiotic stresses have a direct negative effect on worldwide crop production. More promising and improved stress-tolerant strategies that can help to feed the increasing global population are required. A laboratory experiment was performed on two of the latest wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes (Akbar 2019 and Anaj 2017) from Punjab Pakistan, to determine the influence of seed priming with thiamine (vitamin B1) along with soil inoculation of Endophytic bacterial strains to mitigate the effects of drought stress at different degrees. Results revealed that thiamine helped in the remote germination; seeds of Anaj 2017 germinated within 16 hours while Akbar 2019 germinated after one day. Overall growth parameters of Anaj 2017 were negatively affected even under higher levels of drought stress, while Akbar 2019 proved to be a susceptible cultivar. A significant increase in RFW (54%), SFW (85%), RDW (69%), SDW (67%) and TChl (136%) validated the effectiveness of D-T3 compared to C-T0 in drought stress. Significant decrease in MDA, EL and H2O2 signified the imperative function of D-T3 over C-T0 under drought stress. In conclusion and recommendation, we declare that farmers can get better wheat growth under drought stress by application of D-T3 over C-T0.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1204
Author(s):  
Xinqiao Zhan ◽  
Yichun Qian ◽  
Bizeng Mao

Dendrobium catenatum, a valuable Chinese herb, frequently experiences abiotic stresses, such as cold and drought, under natural conditions. Nonphosphorus glycerolipid synthase (NGLS) genes are closely linked to the homeostasis of membrane lipids under abiotic stress in plants. However, there is limited information on NGLS genes in D. catenatum. In this study, a total of eight DcaNGLS genes were identified from the D. catenatum genome; these included three monogalactosyldiacylglycerol synthase (DcaMGD1, 2, 3) genes, two digalactosyldiacylglycerol synthase (DcaDGD1, 2) genes, and three sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol synthase (DcaSQD1, 2.1, 2.2) genes. The gene structures and conserved motifs in the DcaNGLSs showed a high conservation during their evolution. Gene expression profiling showed that the DcaNGLSs were highly expressed in specific tissues and during rapid growth stages. Furthermore, most DcaNGLSs were strongly induced by freezing and post-freezing recovery. DcaMGD1 and DcaSQDs were greatly induced by salt stress in leaves, while DcaDGDs were primarily induced by salt stress in roots. Under drought stress, most DcaNGLSs were regulated by circadian rhythms, and DcaSQD2 was closely associated with drought recovery. Transcriptome analysis also revealed that MYB might be regulated by circadian rhythm and co-expressed with DcaNGLSs under drought stress. These results provide insight for the further functional investigation of NGLS and the regulation of nonphosphorus glycerolipid biosynthesis in Dendrobium.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1534
Author(s):  
Chandra Mohan Singh ◽  
Poornima Singh ◽  
Chandrakant Tiwari ◽  
Shalini Purwar ◽  
Mukul Kumar ◽  
...  

Drought stress is considered a severe threat to crop production. It adversely affects the morpho-physiological, biochemical and molecular functions of the plants, especially in short duration crops like mungbean. In the past few decades, significant progress has been made towards enhancing climate resilience in legumes through classical and next-generation breeding coupled with omics approaches. Various defence mechanisms have been reported as key players in crop adaptation to drought stress. Many researchers have identified potential donors, QTLs/genes and candidate genes associated to drought tolerance-related traits. However, cloning and exploitation of these loci/gene(s) in breeding programmes are still limited. To bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical breeding, we need to reveal the omics-assisted genetic variations associated with drought tolerance in mungbean to tackle this stress. Furthermore, the use of wild relatives in breeding programmes for drought tolerance is also limited and needs to be focused. Even after six years of decoding the whole genome sequence of mungbean, the genome-wide characterization and expression of various gene families and transcriptional factors are still lacking. Due to the complex nature of drought tolerance, it also requires integrating high throughput multi-omics approaches to increase breeding efficiency and genomic selection for rapid genetic gains to develop drought-tolerant mungbean cultivars. This review highlights the impact of drought stress on mungbean and mitigation strategies for breeding high-yielding drought-tolerant mungbean varieties through classical and modern omics technologies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 456-475
Author(s):  
Efat Zohra ◽  
Muhammad Ikram ◽  
Ahmad A. Omar ◽  
Mujahid Hussain ◽  
Seema Hassan Satti ◽  
...  

Abstract In the present era, due to the increasing incidence of environmental stresses worldwide, the developmental growth and production of agriculture crops may be restrained. Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have precedence over other nanoparticles because of the significant role of selenium in activating the defense system of plants. In addition to beneficial microorganisms, the use of biogenic SeNPs is known as an environmentally friendly and ecologically biocompatible approach to enhance crop production by alleviating biotic and abiotic stresses. This review provides the latest development in the green synthesis of SeNPs by using the results of plant secondary metabolites in the biogenesis of nanoparticles of different shapes and sizes with unique morphologies. Unfortunately, green synthesized SeNPs failed to achieve significant attention in the agriculture sector. However, research studies were performed to explore the application potential of plant-based SeNPs in alleviating drought, salinity, heavy metal, heat stresses, and bacterial and fungal diseases in plants. This review also explains the mechanistic actions that the biogenic SeNPs acquire to alleviate biotic and abiotic stresses in plants. In this review article, the future research that needs to use plant-mediated SeNPs under the conditions of abiotic and biotic stresses are also highlighted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teame Gereziher MEHARI ◽  
Yanchao XU ◽  
Richard Odongo MAGWANGA ◽  
Muhammad Jawad UMER ◽  
Joy Nyangasi KIRUNGU ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Cotton is an important commercial crop for being a valuable source of natural fiber. Its production has undergone a sharp decline because of abiotic stresses, etc. Drought is one of the major abiotic stress causing significant yield losses in cotton. However, plants have evolved self-defense mechanisms to cope abiotic factors like drought, salt, cold, etc. The evolution of stress responsive transcription factors such as the trihelix, a nodule-inception-like protein (NLP), and the late embryogenesis abundant proteins have shown positive response in the resistance improvement to several abiotic stresses. Results Genome wide identification and characterization of the effects of Light-Harvesting Chloro a/b binding (LHC) genes were carried out in cotton under drought stress conditions. A hundred and nine proteins encoded by the LHC genes were found in the cotton genome, with 55, 27, and 27 genes found to be distributed in Gossypium hirsutum, G. arboreum, and G. raimondii, respectively. The proteins encoded by the genes were unevenly distributed on various chromosomes. The Ka/Ks (Non-synonymous substitution rate/Synonymous substitution rate) values were less than one, an indication of negative selection of the gene family. Differential expressions of genes showed that majority of the genes are being highly upregulated in the roots as compared with leaves and stem tissues. Most genes were found to be highly expressed in MR-85, a relative drought tolerant germplasm. Conclusion The results provide proofs of the possible role of the LHC genes in improving drought stress tolerance, and can be explored by cotton breeders in releasing a more drought tolerant cotton varieties.


Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
Kumar Nishant Chourasia ◽  
Milan Kumar Lal ◽  
Rahul Kumar Tiwari ◽  
Devanshu Dev ◽  
Hemant Balasaheb Kardile ◽  
...  

Among abiotic stresses, salinity is a major global threat to agriculture, causing severe damage to crop production and productivity. Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is regarded as a future food crop by FAO to ensure food security, which is severely affected by salinity. The growth of the potato plant is inhibited under salt stress due to osmotic stress-induced ion toxicity. Salinity-mediated osmotic stress leads to physiological changes in the plant, including nutrient imbalance, impairment in detoxifying reactive oxygen species (ROS), membrane damage, and reduced photosynthetic activities. Several physiological and biochemical phenomena, such as the maintenance of plant water status, transpiration, respiration, water use efficiency, hormonal balance, leaf area, germination, and antioxidants production are adversely affected. The ROS under salinity stress leads to the increased plasma membrane permeability and extravasations of substances, which causes water imbalance and plasmolysis. However, potato plants cope with salinity mediated oxidative stress conditions by enhancing both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities. The osmoprotectants, such as proline, polyols (sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, lactitol, and maltitol), and quaternary ammonium compound (glycine betaine) are synthesized to overcome the adverse effect of salinity. The salinity response and tolerance include complex and multifaceted mechanisms that are controlled by multiple proteins and their interactions. This review aims to redraw the attention of researchers to explore the current physiological, biochemical and molecular responses and subsequently develop potential mitigation strategies against salt stress in potatoes.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 626
Author(s):  
Tinashe Zenda ◽  
Songtao Liu ◽  
Anyi Dong ◽  
Huijun Duan

Sulphur plays crucial roles in plant growth and development, with its functions ranging from being a structural constituent of macro-biomolecules to modulating several physiological processes and tolerance to abiotic stresses. In spite of these numerous sulphur roles being well acknowledged, agriculture has paid scant regard for sulphur nutrition, until only recently. Serious problems related to soil sulphur deficiencies have emerged and the intensification of food, fiber, and animal production is escalating to feed the ever-increasing human population. In the wake of huge demand for high quality cereal and vegetable diets, sulphur can play a key role in augmenting the production, productivity, and quality of crops. Additionally, in light of the emerging problems of soil fertility exhaustion and climate change-exacerbated environmental stresses, sulphur assumes special importance in crop production, particularly under intensively cropped areas. Here, citing several relevant examples, we highlight, in addition to its plant biological and metabolism functions, how sulphur can significantly enhance crop productivity and quality, as well as acclimation to abiotic stresses. By this appraisal, we also aim to stimulate readers interests in crop sulphur research by providing priorities for future pursuance, including bettering our understanding of the molecular processes and dynamics of sulphur availability and utilization in plants, dissecting the role of soil rhizospherical microbes in plant sulphur transformations, enhancing plant phenotyping and diagnosis for nutrient deficiencies, and matching site-specific crop sulphur demands with fertilizer amendments in order to reduce nutrient use inefficiencies in both crop and livestock production systems. This will facilitate the proper utilization of sulphur in crop production and eventually enhance sustainable and environmentally friend food production.


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