Abstract
Drought stress limits wheat production. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) may help decrease the harmful effects of drought stress on seed germination and plant growth. Therefore, two experiments investigated growth regulators’ effects on wheat germination and biochemical characteristics. The first experiment was conducted as a factorial based on a completely randomized design with three replications on germination. The factors were the moisture levels 0 (non-stress), −0.4 and −0.8 MPa, two wheat cultivars (Sirvan and Homa), and the PGRs solutions used for seed priming, including control (non-priming), gibberellic acid (100 µm), cytokinin (100 µm) and cycocel (3 gr lit−1). The second experiment was a hydroponic experiment carried out as a factorial design with three replications. The factors were the same osmotic stress treatments, the same cultivars, and similar four levels PGRs as a foliar application. The highest root length (RL), shoot length (SL), and germination rate (GR) were recorded in Homa cultivar by priming with GA3 under non-stress conditions. Homa seeds primed with CCC recorded the highest root-to-shoot ratio (R/S) at −0.8 MPa. Germination percentage (GP) and GR were higher in this cultivar than in Sirvan. In the hydroponic experiment, drought stress significantly affected all traits. Drought stress reduced soluble protein (SP), whereas other traits increased. PGRs decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) and enhanced polyphenol oxidase (PPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), proline (PRO), SP, and glycine betaine (GB) content. Therefore, PGRs can be considered an alternative way to alleviate the effect of drought stress on wheat germination and seedling growth.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abeed AH, Eissa MA, Abdel-Wahab DA (2021) Effect of exogenously applied Jasmonic acid and kinetin on drought tolerance of wheat cultivars based on morpho-physiological evaluation. Soil Sci Plant Nutr 21(1):131–144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-020-00348-1
Al Mahmud J, Biswas PK, Nahar K, Fujita M, Hasanuzzaman M (2019) Exogenous application of gibberellic acid mitigates drought-induced damage in spring wheat. Acta Agrobot 72(2):1776. https://doi.org/10.5586/aa.1776
Alici EH, Arabaci G (2016) Determination of SOD, POD, PPO and cat enzyme activities in Rumex obtusifolius L. Annu Res Rev Biol 11(3):1–7. https://doi.org/10.9734/ARRB/2016/29809
Asgher M, Khan MIR, Anjum NA, Khan NA (2015) Minimising toxicity of cadmium in plants—role of plant growth regulators. Protoplasma 252(2):399–413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-014-0710-4
Ashraf M, Foolad MR (2005) Pre-sowing seed treatment—a shotgun approach to improve germination, plant growth, and crop yield under saline and non-saline conditions. Advan Agron 88:223–271
Attia A A M (2004) Physiological studies on some ornamental bulbs (Ph.D. Thesis). Faculty of Agriculture Kafr El-Sheikh University of Egypt.
Babaei K, Sharifi SR, Pirzad A, Khalilzadeh R (2017) Effects of bio fertilizer and nano Zn-Fe oxide on physiological traits, antioxidant enzymes activity and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under salinity stress. J Plant Interact 12:381–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/17429145.2017.1371798
Bates LS, Waldren RP, Teare ID (1973) Rapid determination of free proline for water stress studies. Plant Soil 39(1):205–207. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00018060
Blum A (2017) Osmotic adjustment is a prime drought stress adaptive engine in support of plant production. Plant Cell Environ 40(1):4–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12800
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-due binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-2697(76)90527-3
Chachar MH, Chachar NA, Chachar Q, Mujtaba SM, Chachar S, Chachar Z (2016) Physiological characterization of six wheat genotypes for drought tolerance. Int J Res Granthaalayah 4(2):184–196
Chang Z, Liu Y, Dong H, Teng K, Han L, Zhang X (2016) Effects of cytokinin and nitrogen on drought tolerance of creeping bentgrass. PLoS ONE 11(4):e154005. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154005
Chipilski R, Moskova I, Pencheva A, Kocheva K (2021) Field priming with cytokinins enhances seed viability of wheat after low temperature storage. Plant Soil Environ 67(2):77–84. https://doi.org/10.17221/524/2020-PSE
Daryanto S, Wang L, Jacinthe PA (2016) Global synthesis of drought effects on maize and wheat production. PLoS ONE 11:e156362. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156362
Datir S, Singh N, Joshi I (2020) Effect of NaCl-Induced salinity stress on growth, osmolytes and enzyme activities in wheat genotypes. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 104(3):351–357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-020-02795-z
Eltyb Ahmed Nimir N, Lu S, Zhou G, Guo W, Ma B, Wang Y (2015) Comparative effects of gibberellic acid, kinetin and salicylic acid on emergence, seedling growth and the antioxidant defence system of sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) under salinity and temperature stresses. Crop Pasture Sci 66(2):145–157. https://doi.org/10.1071/CP14141
Farooq M, Basra SMA, Rehman H, Saleem BA (2008) Seed priming enhances the performance of late sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by improving chilling tolerance. J Agron Crop Sci 194(1):55–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-037X.2007.00287.x
Grieve CM, Grattan SR (1983) Rapid assay for determination of water soluble quaternary ammonium compounds. Plant Soil 70:303–307
Gurumurthy S, Sarkar B, Vanaja M, Lakshmi J, Yadav SK, Maheswari M (2019) Morpho-physiological and biochemical changes in black gram (Vigna mungo L. Hepper) genotypes under drought stress at flowering stage. Acta Physiol Plant 41(3):42–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-019-2833-x
Halim Q, Imam Y, Shakeri A (2017) Evaluation of yield, yield components, stress tolerance indices in bread wheat cultivars in conditions of cessation of irrigation after flowering. J Prod Proc Crop Hort 7:121–134
Hoagland DR, Arnon DI (1950) The water culture method of growing plants without soil. Cal. Agric. Exp. Sta. Cir 347 (2nd edit)
Hönig M, Plihalova L, Husičkova A, Nisler J, Doležal K (2018) Role of cytokinins in senescence, antioxidant defense and photosynthesis. Int J Mol Sci 19:4045. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19124045
Huseynova IM, Rustamova SM, Suleymanov SY, Aliyeva DR, Mammadov AC, Aliyev JA (2016) Drought-induced changes in photosynthetic apparatus and antioxidant components of wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) varieties. Photosynth Res 130(1–3):215–223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-016-0244-z
Hussain M, Farooq S, Hassan W, Ul-Allah S, Tanveer M, Farooq M, Nawaz A (2018) Drought stress in sunflower: physiological effects and its management throughout breeding and agronomic alternatives. Agric Water Manag 201:152–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.01.028
Hussain S, Zheng M, Khan F, Khaliq A, Fahad S, Peng S, Huang J, Cui K, Nie L (2015) Benefits of rice seed priming are offset permanently by prolonged storage and the storage conditions. Sci Rep 5:8101. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08101
Hussain S, Khan F, Hussain HA, Nie L (2016) Physiological and biochemical mechanisms of seed priming-induced chilling tolerance in rice cultivars. Front Plant Sci 7:116. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2016.00116
Hussien Ibrahim ME, Zhu X, Zhou G, Ali AAY, Elsiddig IAM, Farah GA (2019) Response of some wwheat varieties to gibberellic acid under saline conditions. AGE. https://doi.org/10.2134/age2019.01.0003
Ilyas N, Gull R, Mazhar R, Saeed M, Kanwal S, Shabir S, Bibi F (2017) Influence of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid onwheat under drought stress. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 48(22):2715–2723. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2017.1418370
Iqbal M, Ashraf M (2005) Presowing seed treatment with cytokinins and its effect on growth, photosynthetic rate, ionic levels and yield of two wheat cultivars differing in salt tolerance. J Integr Plant Biol 47(11):1315–1325
Jalal-ud-Din D, Ullah Khan S, Khan A, Naveed S (2015) Effect of exogenously applied kinetin and glycinebetaine on metabolic and yield attributes of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under drought stress. Emir J Food Agric 27:75–81. https://doi.org/10.9755/ejfa.v27i1.17950
Jaleel CA, Salem MA, Hasanuzzaman M, Nahar K (2010) Plant growth regulator interactions results enhancement of antioxidant enzymes in Catharanthus roseus. J Plant Interact 5(2):135–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/17429140903377456
Karo M, Mishra D (1976) Catalase, peroxidase, and polyphenoloxidase activities during rice leaf senescence. Plant Physiol 57(2):315–319. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.57.2.315
Khalid A, Aftab F (2020) Effect of exogenous application of IAA and GA3 on growth, protein content, and antioxidant enzymes of Solanum tuberosum L. grown in vitro under salt stress. Vitro Cell Dev Biol Plant 56(3):377–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-019-10047-x
Khalilzadeh R, Sharifi SR, Jalilian J (2016) Antioxidant status and physiological responses of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to cycocel application and bio fertilizers under water limitation condition. J Plant Interact 11(1):130–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/17429145.2016.1221150
Latef AAAH, Akter A, Tahjib-Ul-Arif M (2021) Foliar application of auxin or cytokinin can confer salinity stress tolerance in Vicia faba L. Agronomy 11(4):790. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11040790
Lee SS, Kim JH (2000) Total Sugars α‑amylase activity, and emergence after priming of normal and aged rice seeds. Korean J Crop Sci 45(2):108–111
Liu X, Huang B, Banowetz G (2002) Cytokinin effects on creeping bentgrass response to heat stress: 1. Shoot and root growth. Crop Sci 42(2):457–465. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2002.4570
Michel BE, Kaufmann MR (1973) The osmotic potential of polyethylene glycol 6000. Plant Physiol 51(5):914–916. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.51.5.914
Mickky BM, Aldesuquy HS (2017) Impact of osmotic stress on seedling growth observations, membrane characteristics and antioxidant defense system of different wheat genotypes. Egypt J Basic Appl Sci 4(1):47–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejbas.2016.10.001
Moharramnejad S, Sofalian O, Valizadeh M, Asgari A, Shiri M (2015) Proline, glycine betaine, total phenolics and pigment contents in response to osmotic stress in maize seedlings. J Biosci Biotechnol Discv 4(3):313–319
Moumita MJA, Biswas PK, Nahar K, Fujita M, Hasanuzzaman M (2019) Exogenous application of gibberellic acid mitigates drought-induced damage in spring wheat. Acta Agrobot 72(2):1776. https://doi.org/10.5586/aa.1776
Naeem MK, Ahmad M, Kamran M, Shah MKN, Iqbal MS (2015) Physiological responses of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to drought stress. Int J Plant Soil Sci 6(1):1–9
Nagar S, Ramakrishnan S, Singh VP, Singh GP, Dhakar R, Umesh DKAA (2015) Cytokinin enhanced biomass and yield in wheat by improving N‑metabolism under water limited environment. Indian J Plant Physiol 20(1):31–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40502-014-0134-3
Nam YJ, Tran LSP, Kojima M, Sakakibara H, Nishiyama R, Shin R (2012) Regulatory roles of cytokinins and cytokinin signaling in response to potassium deficiency in Arabidopsis. Plos One 7:e47797. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047797
Neelambari C, Mandavia M, Mandavia R, Kumari R (2017) Protective effect of ascorbic acid and gibberellic acid on biochemical parameters of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under salinity stress. J Crop Sci Biotechnol 6(9):18–26
Nemati M, Piro A, Norouzi M, Moghaddam Vahed M, Nisticò DM, Mazzuca S (2019) Comparative physiological and leaf proteomic analyses revealed the tolerant and sensitive traits to drought stress in two wheat parental lines and their F6 progenies. Environ Exp Bot 158:223–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2018.10.024
Pallaoro DS, Caroline A, Avelino D, Camili EC, Guimarães SC (2016) Priming corn seeds with plant growth regulator. J Seed Sci 38(3):227–232. https://doi.org/10.1590/2317-1545v38n3163847
Patel I, Saxena OP (1994) Screening of PGRs for seed treatment in green gram and black gram. Indian J Plant Physiol 37(3):206–208
Pinheiro C, Araújo NH, de Brito S, da Silva MM, da Silva VJ, Filho S (2018) Seed priming and tolerance to salt and water stress in divergent grain sorghum genotypes. Am J Plant Sci 9(4):606–616. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2018.94047
Pirasteh-Anosheh H, Emam Y, Ashraf M (2014) Impact of cycocel on seed germination and growth in some commercial crops under osmotic stress conditions. Arch Acker Pflanzenbau Bodenkd 60(9):1277–1289. https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2013.879119
Pour-Aboughadareh A, Etminan A, Abdelrahman M, Siddique KHM, Tran LSP (2020) Assessment of biochemical and physiological parameters of durum wheat genotypes at the seedling stage during polyethylene glycol-induced water stress. Plant Growth Regul 92(1):81–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-020-00621-4
Prerostova S, Dobrev PI, Gaudinova A, Knirsch V, Körber N, Pieruschka R, Fiorani F, Brzobohatý B, Černý M, Spichal L, Humplik J, Vanek T, Schurr U, Vankova R (2018) Cytokinins: their impact on molecular and growth responses to drought stress and recovery in Arabidopsis. Front Plant Sci 9:655–655. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.00655
Qayyum A, Al Ayoubi S, Sher A, Bibi Y, Ahmad S, Shen Z, Jenks MA (2021) Improvement in drought tolerance in bread wheat is related to an improvement in osmolyte production, antioxidant enzyme activities, and gaseous exchange. Saudi J Biol Sci 28(9):5238–5249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.05.040
Rady MM, Boriek SHK, El-Mageed ATA, Seif El-Yazal MA, Ali EF, Hassan FAS, Abdelkhalik A (2021) Exogenous gibberellic acid or dilute bee honey boosts drought stress tolerance in Vicia faba by rebalancing osmoprotectants, antioxidants, nutrients, and phytohormones. Plants 10(4):748. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10040748
Rajala A (2004) Plant growth regulators to manipulate oat stands. Agric Food Sci 13(1–2):186–197. https://doi.org/10.2137/1239099041838058
Sudhakar C, Lakshmi A, Giridarakumar S (2001) Changes in the antioxidant enzyme efficacy in two high yielding genotypes of mulberry (Morus alba L.) under NaCl salinity. Plant Sci 161(3):613–619
Tuna AL, Kaya C, Dikilitas M, Higgs D (2008) The combined effects of gibberellic acid and salinity on some antioxidant enzyme activities, plant growth parameters and nutritional status in maize plants. Environ Exp Bot 62(1):1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2007.06.007
Verma S, Dubey RS (2003) Leads toxicity induces lipid peroxidation and alters the activities of antioxidant enzymes in growing rice plants. Plant Sci 164(4):645–655. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9452 (03)00022–0
Yadav S, Modi P, Dave A, Vijapura A, Patel D, Patel M (2020) Effect of abiotic stress on crops. In sustainable crop production. IntechOpen, London https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88434
Yasmeen A, Basra SMA, Wahid A, Farooq M, Nouman W, Rehman HU, Hussain N (2013) Improving drought resistance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L) by exogenous application of growth enhancers. Int J Agric Biol 15(6):1307–1312
Younesi O, Moradi A (2015) Effect of different ppriming methods on germination and seedling establishment of two medicinal plants under salt stress. Cercet Agron Mold 163(3):43–51
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
F. Sadeghi, Y. Sohrabi and A.S.-S. Mardeh declare that they have no competing interests.
Additional information
Data availability
The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Sadeghi, F., Sohrabi, Y. & Mardeh, A.SS. Effects of Plant Growth Regulators on Seed Germination and Biochemical Properties of Two Wheat Cultivars Under Water Deficit Conditions. Gesunde Pflanzen 75, 1121–1132 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-022-00803-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-022-00803-2