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Amino Acids as Stress Reducers in Soybean Plant Growth Under Different Water-Deficit Conditions

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Abstract

Soybean is one of the most important crops of economic value, and among the factors that can alter its productivity is the water-deficit. Studies show that amino acids such as proline and glutamate can help protect plants against abiotic stresses, such as water restriction. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the improvement of tolerance to water deficit in soybean plants when submitted to the application of proline and glutamate. The application of these amino acids was carried out as seed treatment (ST) or as foliar application (FA). Three irrigation levels (80, 60, and 40% of the pot field capacity) were used, which corresponded to treatments without water deficit, moderate, and high deficits, respectively. The high water deficit provided a significant reduction in plant growth and productivity. Under these conditions, glutamate as ST was effective in increasing the plant dry mass and yield (21% increase in relation to control). In plants without water restriction, the application of glutamate as ST reduced the lipid peroxidation and increased the dry mass of the plants, volume, and root projection area (PA). On the other hand, for plants submitted to the low water deficit, the FA of proline increased the dry mass of the plants, nitrate reductase, and PA. Therefore, in soybean plants without water restriction and with high water deficit, the best response was obtained with glutamate as ST. For plants submitted to low water deficit, the best procedure was the application of proline as FA.

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Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior-Brasil (CAPES), for funding this research-Finance Code 001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crop Science Department, “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture – Esalq/USP, Piracicaba, São Paulo, 13418-970, Brazil

    Walquíria Fernanda Teixeira, Simone da Costa Mello, Klaus Reichardt & Durval Dourado-Neto

  2. University Center of Patos de Minas – Unipam, Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais, 38700-207, Brazil

    Luís Henrique Soares & Evandro Binotto Fagan

  3. Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of Sao Paulo, Av. Centenário 303, Piracicaba, São Paulo, 13400-970, Brazil

    Klaus Reichardt

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  1. Walquíria Fernanda Teixeira
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Correspondence to Walquíria Fernanda Teixeira.

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Teixeira, W.F., Soares, L.H., Fagan, E.B. et al. Amino Acids as Stress Reducers in Soybean Plant Growth Under Different Water-Deficit Conditions. J Plant Growth Regul 39, 905–919 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-019-10032-z

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