Glycinebetaine-Induced Alteration in Gaseous Exchange Capacity and Osmoprotective Phenomena in Safflower ( Carthamus tinctorius L.) under Water Deficit Conditions

Zanib Nazar, Nudrat Aisha Akram, Muhammad Hamzah Saleem, Muhammad Ashraf, Shakeel Ahmed, Shafaqat Ali, Abdulaziz Abdullah Alsahli and Mohammed Nasser Alyemeni
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Zanib Nazar: Department of Botany, Government College University, Allama Iqbal Road, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Nudrat Aisha Akram: Department of Botany, Government College University, Allama Iqbal Road, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Muhammad Hamzah Saleem: MOA Key Laboratory of Crop Ecophysiology and Farming System in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Muhammad Ashraf: Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Shakeel Ahmed: Instituto de Farmacia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5110566, Chile
Shafaqat Ali: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government College University Allama Iqbal Road, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Abdulaziz Abdullah Alsahli: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Nasser Alyemeni: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-18

Abstract: Several inorganic and organic compounds including glycine betaine (GB) are presently being used as an exogenous application to enhance tolerance in plants to different environmental stresses. The current study assessed to what extent exogenously applied GB could improve the gaseous exchange capacity and primary and secondary metabolites in two accessions (16178 and 16180) of safflower ( Carthamus tinctorius L.) plants under drought stress. Three-week-old plants of both safflower accessions were subjected to well-watered (control) or water-deficit conditions (60% field capacity (FC)). Three levels of GB (control, 50 mM and 100 mM) were sprayed to the foliage of the control and stressed plants after one month of drought application. After two weeks of foliar application of GB, gas exchange characteristics and other biochemical parameters were determined. The results showed that water deficiency markedly suppressed plant biomass, chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate ( A ), water use efficiency ( A / E ), stomatal conductance ( g s ) and relative water contents (RWC) of both accessions of safflower, while it enhanced the levels of osmolytes (GB and proline), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and total phenolics. Foliar application of GB was effective in enhancing the plant biomass, chlorophyll contents, g s , sub-stomatal CO 2 concentration ( C i ), C i /C a ratio, osmolytes, H 2 O 2 , ascorbic acid (AsA), total phenolics and RWC in safflower plants under water shortage. Thus, exogenous application of GB could be used as an effective strategy to improve plant growth, photosynthetic attributes and secondary metabolites in safflower plants under water deficit conditions.

Keywords: glycine betaine; gaseous exchange; safflower; drought; metabolites (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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