Effects of water stress on two wheat cultivars with different levels of drought resistance
1999
Kastori, R.R. (Faculty of Agriculture, Novi Sad (Yugoslavia)) | Dencic, S.S. | Petrovic, M.J.
This study investigated the responses of two wheat varieties, Huelquen (drought-tolerant) and Saitama 27 (drought-sensitive) to water stress induced by either covering the plants with rain shelters in the field, or by adding polyethylene glycol (PEG) to the nutrient solution of plants grown in a glasshouse. Preliminary work had determined the sensitivity of the two varieties to drought under field conditions. Water stress induced by PEG resulted in a decrease in root and shoot dry matter, a decrease in the dry-matter shoot to root ratio, a decrease in the relative water content, an increase in the number of stomata and epidermal cells per unit leaf area, an increase in the stomatal index, and an increase in free proline accumulation in both cultivars. The concentration of free proline increased to a greater extent in Huelquen than in Saitama 27 with increasing water stress. Increasing water stress decreased plant dry matter and relative water content, and increased the stomatal frequency, the number of epidermal cells per unit leaf area, and the stomatal index to a similar extent in both cultivars. Significant differences were found between the two varieties with regard to the chlorophyll stability indexes.
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