Application of biochemical markers for the assessment of drought tolerance in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars
2017
Maghsoodi, Malek | Razmjoo, Jamshid | Gheysari, Mahdi
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars respond differently to drought stress levels and oxidative injury. This may provide us with an important tool to identify the chemical mechanisms operative in drought tolerant genotypes. The present experiment was conducted to determine catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and peroxidase (POX) activities; malondialdehyde (MDA) content; herbage yield; stress susceptibility index (SSI); and drought tolerance index (DTI) of 10 alfalfa cultivars under four irrigation regimes (55, 65, 75 and 85% depletion of available soil water). Drought stress was observed to reduce herbage yield but increase CAT, APX and POX activities as well as MDA content; however, such alterations were cultivar‐drought level‐specific. With a few exceptions, Baghdadi had the highest CAT, POX and APX activities and lowest MDA content, lowest reduction in herbage yield and the lowest SSI and the highest DTI under all irrigation regimes suggesting that it was the most adapted and drought‐tolerant cultivar. Herbage yield had a significant and positive correlation with POX and a significant and negative correlation with MDA under all irrigation regimes indicating that they could be used as markers for selecting more drought‐tolerant cultivars in alfalfa. Catalase and APX also had a significant and positive correlation with herbage yield, thus they could be used as markers for selection of more drought‐tolerant cultivars. The results suggested that a wide variation in drought tolerance exists within alfalfa cultivars, thus selection for more drought tolerance is possible. In addition, chemical markers such as POX, CAT and APX activities and MDA content may be used to assist in selection for more drought tolerance cultivar in this species.
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