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Differential plant growth and osmotic effects of two maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to exogenous glycinebetaine application under drought stress

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Abstract

We investigated the effects of exogenous glycinebetaine (GB) and drought stress (DS) on grain yield (GY) and production of dry matter (DM) and osmolytes in two maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars i.e. Shaandan 9 (S9) and Shaandan 911 (S911) during the entire growing period. Drought stress substantially reduced DM and GY but increased free proline, endogenous GB, soluble sugar and K+ concentrations in leaves of both cultivars. The DM production, GY, drought index (DI) and concentrations of these osmolytes were greater for S9 than those for S911 under DS. The significant differences in these parameters suggested that S9 was more drought-tolerant as compared to S911. Additionally, foliar application of GB increased the concentrations of all osmolytes measured, DM and GY of both cultivars under DS. These positive responses of exogenous GB spray were more pronounced in S911 as compared to those in S9. Further correlation analysis involving a number of parameters indicated that maize production was tighterly correlated with accumulation of the osmolytes measured during DS rather than well-watered controls. Accordingly, this study demonstrated the notion of an anti-drought role of exogenous GB by osmoregulation under DS, particularly in this drought sensitive cultivar. Thus, exogenous GB application might be firstly used with drought sensitive species/cultivars when exposed to DS.

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Acknowledgments

This work was jointly supported by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (20070421133) and the Key Project (30230230) of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming (10501-181). The authors would like to take the opportunity to thank Prof Dr. C. J. Atkinson, all editors and reviewers for their critical reading this manuscript. We also appreciate Dr. A.K. Alva and Megan Harrison (USDA-ARS, Prosser, WA) for technical and editorial peer review of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on Loess Plateau, Northwest A & F University, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Zhang LiXin & Liang ZongSuo

  2. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Zhang LiXin & Liang ZongSuo

  3. College of Resource and Environment, Northwest A & F University, 712100, Yangling, People’s Republic of China

    Li ShengXiu

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  1. Zhang LiXin
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Correspondence to Zhang LiXin.

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LiXin, Z., ShengXiu, L. & ZongSuo, L. Differential plant growth and osmotic effects of two maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars to exogenous glycinebetaine application under drought stress. Plant Growth Regul 58, 297–305 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-009-9379-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-009-9379-7

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