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Changes of anti-oxidative enzymes and membrane peroxidation for soil water deficits among 10 wheat genotypes at seedling stage.

Drought is one of the major factors limiting crop production globally, with increasing global climate change making the situation more serious. Wheat is the staple food for more than 35% of world population, so wheat anti-drought physiology study is of importance to wheat production and biological breeding for the sake of coping with abiotic and biotic conditions. Much research is involved in this hot topic, but the pace of progress is not so large because of drought resistance being a multiple-gene-control quantitative character and wheat genome being larger (16,000 Mb). On the other hand, stress adaptive mechanisms are quite different, with stress degree, time course, materials, and experimental plots, thus increasing the complexity of the issue in question. Additionally, a little study is related to the whole life circle of wheat, which cannot provide a comprehensive understanding of its anti-drought machinery. We selected 10 kinds of wheat genotypes as materials, which have potential to be applied in practice, and measured relative change of anti-oxidative enzymes and membrane peroxidation through wheat whole growth-developmental circle (i.e. seedling, tillering and maturing). Here, we firstly reported the results of seedling stage as follows: (1) 10 wheat genotypes can be grouped into three kinds (A-C, respectively) according to their changing trend of the measured indices; (2) A performed better resistance drought under the condition of treatment level 1 (appropriate level), whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes (POD, SOD, CAT) were higher and MDA lower and chlorophyll a+b higher; (3) B exhibited stronger anti-drought under treatment level 2 (light stress level), whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes were higher, MDA lower and chlorophyll higher; (4) C expressed anti-drought to some extent under treatment level 3 (serious stress), whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes were stronger, MDA lower and chlorophyll higher; (5) these results demonstrated that different wheat genotypes have different physiological mechanisms to adapt themselves to changing drought stress, whose molecular basis is discrete gene expression profiling (transcriptom); (6) our results also showed that the concept accepted by most researchers, 70-75% QF is a proper supply for plants, was doubted, because this level could not reflect the true suitable level of wheat. The study in this respect is the key to wheat anti-drought and biological saving-water; (7) our research can provide insights into physiological mechanisms of crop anti-drought and direct practical materials for wheat anti-drought breeding.

Antioxidants↗

Changes of anti-oxidative enzymes and MDA content under soil water deficits among 10 wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes at maturation stage.

Drought is a world-spread problem seriously influencing grain production and quality, the loss of which is the total for other natural disasters, with increasing global climate change making the situation more serious. Wheat is the staple food for more than 35% of world population, so wheat anti-drought physiology study is of importance to wheat production and biological breeding for the sake of coping with abiotic and biotic conditions. Much research is involved in this hot topic, but the pace of progress is not so large because of drought resistance being a multiple-gene-control quantitative character and wheat genome being larger (16,000Mb). On the other hand, stress adaptive mechanisms are quite different, with stress degree, time course, materials, soil quality status and experimental plots, thus increasing the complexity of the issue in question. Additionally, a little study is related to the whole life circle of wheat, which cannot provide a comprehensive understanding of its anti-drought machinery. We selected 10 kinds of wheat genotypes as materials, which have potential to be applied in practice, and measured change of relative physiological indices through wheat whole growing-developmental circle (i.e. seedling, tillering and maturing). Here, we reported the anti-oxidative results of maturation stage (the results of seedling and tillering stage have been published) in terms of activities of POD, SOD, CAT and MDA content as follows: (1) 10 wheat genotypes can be grouped into three kinds (A-C, respectively) according to their changing trend of the measured indices; (2) A group performed better resistance drought under the condition of treatment level 1 (appropriate level), whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes (POD, SOD, CAT) were higher and MDA lower; (3) B group exhibited stronger anti-drought under treatment level 2 (light-stress level), whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes were higher and MDA lower; (4) C group expressed anti-drought to some extent under treatment level 3 (serious-stress level), whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes were stronger, MDA lower; (5) these results demonstrated that different wheat genotypes have different physiological mechanisms to adapt themselves to changing drought stress, whose molecular basis is discrete gene expression profiling (transcriptom); (6) our results also showed that the concept and method accepted and adopted by most researchers [T.C. Hsiao, Plant response to water stress, Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 24 (1973) 519-570], that 75% FC is a proper supply for higher plants, was doubted, because this level could not reflect the true suitable level of different wheat genotypes. The study in this respect is the key to wheat anti-drought and biological-saving water agriculture; (7) our research can provide insights into physiological mechanisms of crop anti-drought and direct practical materials for wheat anti-drought breeding; (8) the physiological study of wheat is more urgent up-to-date and molecular aspects are needed, but cannot substitute this important part. The combination of both is an important strategy and a key and (9) POD, SOD and CAT activities and MDA content of different wheat genotypes had quite different changing trend at different stages and under different soil water stress conditions, which was linked with their origin of cultivation and individual soil water threshold.

Antioxidants↗

Dynamic changes of anti-oxidative enzymes of 10 wheat genotypes at soil water deficits.

Drought is a world-spread problem seriously influencing crop production and quality, the loss of which is the total for other natural disasters, with increasing global climate change making the situation more serious. Wheat is the staple food for more than 35% of world population, so wheat anti-drought physiology study is of importance to wheat production and biological breeding for the sake of coping with abiotic and biotic conditions. Much research is involved in this hot topic, but the pace of progress is not so large because of drought resistance being a multiple-gene-control quantitative character and wheat genome being larger (16,000 Mb). On the other hand, stress adaptive mechanisms are quite different, with stress degree, different growth and developmental stages, time course, materials and experimental plots, thus increasing the complexity of the issue in question. Additionally, a little study is related to the whole life circle of wheat, which cannot provide a comprehensive understanding of its anti-drought machinery. We selected 10 kinds of wheat genotypes as materials, which have potential to be applied in practice, and measured change of relative physiological indices through wheat whole growing developmental circle (i.e. seedling, tillage and maturing). Here, we reported the dynamic anti-oxidative results of whole stage (i.e. seedling, tillage and maturing) in terms of activities of POD, SOD, CAT of 10 wheat genotypes as follows: (1) 10 wheat genotypes can be grouped into three kinds (A, B and C, respectively) according to their changing trend of the measured indices; (2) A group performed better resistance drought under the condition of treatment level 1, whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes (POD, SOD, CAT) were higher; (3) B group exhibited stronger anti-drought under treatment level 2, whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes were higher; (4) C group expressed anti-drought to some extent under treatment level 3, whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes were stronger, MDA lower; (5) these results demonstrated that different wheat genotypes have different physiological mechanisms to adapt themselves to changing drought stress, whose molecular basis is discrete gene expression profiling (transcriptom); (6) our results also showed that the concept and method accepted and adopted by most researchers--that 75% FC is a proper supply for higher plants--was doubted because this level could not reflect the true suitable level of different wheat genotypes; (7) our research can provide insights into physiological mechanisms of crop anti-drought and direct practical materials for wheat anti-drought breeding; (8) POD, SOD and CAT activities of different wheat genotypes had quite different changing trend at different stages and under different soil water stress conditions, which was linked with their origin of cultivation and individual soil water stress threshold; (9) our primary results also firstly displayed that the changing trend for wheat adapting to environmental stress during life circle was an S-shaped curve, which is, by chance, consistent with Plant Growth Grand Periodicity Curve.

Antioxidants↗

Proteome response of Elymus elongatum to severe water stress and recovery.

Tall wheatgrass (Elymus elongatum Host) is a drought-tolerant, cool-season forage grass native to Iran. A proteomic approach has been applied to identify mechanisms of drought responsiveness and tolerance in plants undergoing vegetative stage drought stress and then recovery after rewatering. Uniformed clones were reproduced from a parent plant collected from Brojen (central region of Iran). Clones were grown in pots and drought was initiated by withholding water for 16 d. The leaf samples were taken in triplicate from both stressed/rewatered plants and continuously watered controls at five times: (i) 75% FC, (ii) 50% FC, (iii) 25% FC, (iv) 3 d after rewatering, and (v) 14 d after rewatering. Changes in the proteome pattern of shoots were studied using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Following the 16 d water stress, both shoot dry weight and leaf width decreased up to 67% compared with the well-watered plants, whereas proline content increased up to 20-fold. Leaf relative water contents (RWC) also declined from 85% to 24%. Out of about 600 protein spots detected on any given two-dimensional gel, 58 protein spots were reproducibly and significantly changed during drought stress and recovery. Only one protein (abscisic acid- and stress-inducible protein) showed significant changes in expression and position in response to severe drought. The fifty-eight responsive proteins were categorized in six clusters including two groups of proteins specifically up- and down-regulated in response to severe drought stress. Eighteen proteins belonging to these two groups were analysed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry leading to the identification of 11 of them, including the oxygen-evolving enhancer protein 2, abscisic acid- and stress-inducible protein, several oxidative stress tolerance enzymes, two small heat shock proteins, and Rubisco breakdown. The results suggest that E. elongatum may tolerate severe drought stress by accumulating proline and several proteins related to drought-stress tolerance. Recovery after rewatering might be another mechanism by which plants tolerate erratic rainfall in semi-arid regions.

Disasters↗

[The role of cortical microtubules in moss protonemal cells during dehydration/rehydration cycle].

Plant cells response to water deficit through a variety of physiological processes. In this work, we studied the function of microtubule cytoskeleton during dehydration/rehydration cycle in moss (Atrichum undulatum) protonemal cells as a model system. The morphological and cytological change of protonemal cells during dehydration and rehydration cycle were first investigated. Under normal conditions, protonemal cells showed bright green colour and appeared wet and fresh. Numerous chloroplasts distributed regularly throughout the cytoplasm in each cell. After dehydration treatment, protonemal cells lost most of their chlorophylls and turned to look yellow and dry. In addition, dehydration caused plasmolysis in these cells. Upon rehydration, the cells could recover completely from the dehydrated state. These results indicated that moss had a remarkable intrinsic ability to survive from the extreme drought stress. Microtubule, an important component of cytoskeleton, is considered to play crucial roles in the responses to some environmental stresses such as cold and light. To see if it is also involved in the drought tolerance, dynamic organization of microtubules in protonemal cells of Atrichum undulatum subjected to drought and rehydration were examined by indirect immunofluorescence combined with confocal lasersharp scanning microscopy. The cortical microtubules were arranged into a fine structure with a predominant orientation parallel to the long axis of the cells in the control cells. After dehydration, the microtubule organization was remarkablly altered and the fine microtubule structure disappeared whereas some thicker cables formed. When the cells were grown under rehydration conditions, the fine microtubule arrays reappeared. These results provided a piece of evidence that microtubules play a role in the cellular responses to drought stress in moss. Furthermore, we analyzed the effects of the microtubule-disrupting agent colchicine on the morphology recovery of the protonemal cells during rehydration process. The cells were incubated with colchicine, followed by drought stress treatment and rehydration in the presence of colchicine to prevent recovery of microtubule organization. Results from immunofluorescence showed that microtubule arrays were broken down into smaller fragments. Compared to the cells treated with drought stress alone, the cells treated with drought stress in the presence of colchicine could not recover after rehydration treatment. The morphology resembled those of the drought treated cells, with obvious plasmolysis phenomena and loss of chlorophyll content. These results support the notion that microtubules were involved in the deccication tolerance mechanism in Atrichum undulatum.

Bryophyta↗

Changes in leaf cuticular waxes of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) plants exposed to water deficit.

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the most important oilseed crops, having seeds and oil that are highly valued as a traditional health food. The objective of this study was to evaluate leaf cuticular wax constituents across a diverse selection of sesame cultivars, and the responses of these waxes to drought-induced wilting. Water-deficit was imposed on 18 sesame cultivars by withholding irrigation for 15d during the post-flowering stage, and the effect on seed yield and leaf waxes compared with a well-watered control. Leaf cuticular waxes were dominated by alkanes (59% of total wax), with aldehydes being the next-most abundant class. Compared to well-irrigated plants, drought treatment caused an increase in wax amount on most cultivars, with only three cultivars having a notable reduction. When expressed as an average across all cultivars, drought treatment caused a 30% increase in total wax amount, with a 34% increase in total alkanes, a 13% increase in aldehydes, and a 28% increase in the total of unknowns. In all cultivars, the major alkane constituents were the C27, C29, C31, C33, and C35 homologs, whereas the major aldehydes were the C30, C32, and C34 homologs, and drought exposure had only minor effects on the chain length distribution within these and other wax classes. Drought treatments caused a large decrease in seed yield per plant, but did not affect the mean weight of individual seeds, showing that sesame responds to post-flowering drought by reducing seed numbers, but not seed size. Seed yield was inversely correlated with the total wax amount (-0.466*), indicating that drought induction of leaf wax deposition does not contribute directly to seed set. Further studies are needed to elucidate the ecological role for induction of the alkane metabolic pathway by drought in regulating sesame plant survival and seed development in water-limiting environments.

Plant Epidermis↗

Water deficits at anthesis reduce CO(2) assimilation and yield of lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) trees.

Ten-year-old 'Tai So' lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) trees growing on a sandy loam soil in subtropical South Africa (latitude 25 degrees S) were watered weekly (well-watered treatment) or droughted from late July until January (drought treatment). After 16 weeks, at which time the trees obtained most of their water from below 150 cm, average soil water content at 0 to 150 cm depth was 14.5 +/- 0.1% in the well-watered treatment and reached a minimum of 7.6% in the drought treatment. At Week 7, minimum leaf water potential (Psi(L)) in the morning and early afternoon declined to -2.6 and -2.8 MPa, respectively, in droughted trees compared with -1.5 and -2.2 MPa, respectively, in well-watered trees. From Week 9, stomatal conductance and net CO(2) assimilation rate ranged from 70 to 300 mmol m(-2) s(-1) and 3 to 13 micro mol CO(2) m(-2) s(-1), respectively, in well-watered trees. The corresponding values for droughted trees were 50 to 180 mmol m(-2) s(-1) and 2 to 6 micro mol CO(2) m(-2) s(-1). Five weeks after rewatering the droughted trees, gas exchange had not recovered to the rate in well-watered trees, although tree water status recovered within a week of rewatering. In the well-watered trees, water use (E(t)) was 26 +/- 1 mm week(-1) with evaporation (E(p)) of 20 to 70 mm week(-1) indicating a crop factor (k(c) = E(t)/E(p)) of 0.4 to 1.2. Before anthesis, tree water status did not affect extension growth of floral panicles or leafy shoots. In contrast, no vegetative shoots were initiated after fruit set in the droughted trees when Psi(L) in the morning declined to -2.5 MPa. Water deficits reduced initial fruit set by 30% and final fruit set by 70% as a result of fruit splitting (41.2 +/- 4.0% versus 10.0 +/- 1.3%). Water deficits did not alter the sigmoidal pattern of fruit growth, but reduced yield from 51.4 +/- 5.5 kg tree(-1) in well-watered trees to 7.4 +/- 3.3 kg tree(-1) in droughted trees.

Journal Article↗

Geographical variation in water relations, hydraulic architecture and terpene composition of Aleppo pine seedlings from Italian provinces.

Ecotypic variations in leaf conductance, soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductance, components of tissue water potential, hydraulic architecture parameters and xylem embolism were examined in greenhouse-grown two-year-old Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) seedlings from six origins representing the geographic range of the species in Italy. Cortical resin composition of the seedlings was also determined. Measurements were made on well-watered seedlings and on seedlings subjected to recurring severe drought. Drought-stressed seedlings had lower mean leaf conductances, transpiration rates and soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductances than well-watered seedlings. They also exhibited more negative osmotic potentials, higher relative water deficit at incipient plasmolysis, but a similar maximum modulus of elasticity. Drought-stressed seedlings showed a higher degree of xylem embolism, a lower Huber value, lower leaf specific conductivity and lower specific conductivity than well-watered seedlings. Drought-stressed seedlings of provenances from more xeric habitats (Tremiti, Porto Pino and Mottola) had greater leaf conductances, transpiration rates and soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductances than drought-stressed seedlings of provenances from more mesic habitats (Imperia, Otricoli and Vico del Gargano). They also showed higher osmotic adjustment and a lower degree of xylem embolism. Among provenances, there were no significant differences in hydraulic architecture parameters in response to the drought treatment; however, Tremiti and Porto Pino seedlings displayed smaller drought-induced reductions in specific conductivity and leaf specific conductivity, respectively, than seedlings from other provenances. These differences suggest that seedlings from xeric provenances, especially Tremiti, have greater resistance to desiccation than seedlings from mesic provenances. No clear association was found between terpene variability and the other traits investigated, although terpene composition was related to the geographical distribution of the provenances. We conclude that the drought-tolerance responses of Tremiti make it a more suitable provenance than the others for establishment on sites prone to severe soil water deficits.

Journal Article↗

Nitrogen and potassium effects on xylem cavitation and water-use efficiency in poplars.

Effects of N and K nutrition on drought and cavitation resistance were examined in six greenhouse-grown poplar clones: Populus trichocarpa (Torr. & Gray) and its hybrids with P. deltoides Bartr. and P. euramericana (Dole) Guinier, before and after preconditioning to water stress. Both tendency to cavitate and water-use efficiency (WUE) increased when N supply was increased, whereas K supply had little impact on cavitation. Mean xylem vessel diameters increased from 36.6 &mgr;m at low-N supply to 45.2 &mgr;m at high-N supply. Drought-hardy clones, which were relatively resistant to cavitation, had the smallest mean vessel diameters. Vulnerability to cavitation had a weakly positive relationship with vessel diameter, and a negative correlation with transpiration. Drought hardening offered no protection against cavitation in a subsequent drought. Under drought conditions, increasing N supply increased leaf loss and decreased water potentials, whereas increasing K supply decreased leaf loss. Drought-resistant clones exhibited similar WUE to drought-susceptible clones, but had smaller, more numerous stomata and greater leaf retention under drought conditions.

Journal Article↗

Differential Two-Dimensional Protein Patterns as Related to Tissue Specificity and Water Conditions in Brassica napus var oleifera Root System.

Differential two-dimensional protein patterns as related to tissue specificity and water conditions were investigated within Brassica napus var oleifera root system. The different parts of the root system (tap root, lateral roots, and drought-induced short roots) were analyzed under various moisture regimes (regular watering at field capacity, progressive drought stress, and rewatering). Tissue specificity was evident from 25 differences in protein patterns (qualitative and quantitative) between well-watered lateral and tap roots. Twice as many polypeptides (52) were drought-affected and the response to the water stress was shown to be similar in both root types. In addition, more than half of the polypeptides detected as organ-specific were affected by drought. Based upon the trend of variation observed under drought and rehydration, three categories of polypeptides could be defined that might be differently involved in drought susceptibility or tolerance. A highly differentiated protein pattern characterized the drought-induced short roots. This pattern appeared as far from the watered as from the water-stressed normal roots. In particular, 13 unique polypeptides were detected which could be relevant to their adaptive morphogenesis and/or their specific drought tolerance induction. Upon rehydration, their polypeptide pattern and their specific morphology returned to a normal well-watered lateral root type.

Journal Article↗

Molecular mapping of QTLs conferring stay-green in grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench).

Drought resistance is of enormous importance in crop production. The identification of genetic factors involved in plant response to drought stress provides a strong foundation for improving drought tolerance. Stay-green is a drought resistance trait in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) that gives plants resistance to premature senescence under severe soil moisture stress during the post-flowering stage. The objective of this study was to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that control the stay-green and chlorophyll content in sorghum. By using a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) map, developed from a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population, we identified four stay-green QTLs, located on three linkage groups. The QTLs (Stg1 and Stg2) are on linkage group A, with the other two, Stg3 and Stg4, on linkage groups D and J, respectively. Two stay-green QTLs, Stg1 and Stg2, explaining 13-20% and 20-30% of the phenotypic variability, respectively, were consistently identified in all trials at different locations in two years. Three QTLs for chlorophyll content (Chl1, Chl2, and Chl3), explaining 25-30% of the phenotypic variability were also identified under post-flowering drought stress. All coincided with the three stay-green QTL regions (Stg1, Stg2, and Stg3) accounting for 46% of the phenotypic variation. The Stg1 and Stg2 regions also contain the genes for key photosynthetic enzymes, heat shock proteins, and an abscisic acid (ABA) responsive gene. Such spatial arrangement shows that linkage group A is important for drought- and heat-stress tolerance and yield production in sorghum. High-resolution mapping and cloning of the consistent stay-green QTLs may help to develop drought-resistant hybrids and to understand the mechanism of drought-induced senescence in plants.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

[Effects of water stress on protective enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in Phellodendron amurense seedlings].

This paper studied the effects of water stress on the dynamic variations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and free proline contents, and of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activities in Phellodendron amurense seedlings. The results showed that after treated with light drought, heavy drought and waterlogging for 40 days, the MDA content in corktree seedlings was significantly higher, being 2.49, 2.37 and 4.12 times of the control, respectively, but after treated for 80 days, there was no significant difference among the three treatments. The free proline content had no obvious variation under waterlogging and in the control, but increased after 40 days of light and heavy drought while declined after 80 days of drought stresses, with the increment being higher under heavy drought than under light drought. No regularity was found for the dynamic variations of SOD, POD and CAT activities, but they were significantly higher under heavy drought than under light drought, waterlogging, and the control.

Catalase↗

Genome-Wide Characterization of Calmodulin-Binding Transcription Activators Genes in Aegilops tauschii.

Calcium signaling plays a central role in plant adaptation to abiotic stresses and is primarily mediated by calmodulin and its associated transcription factors. Calmodulin-binding transcription activators (CAMTAs) regulate stress-responsive gene expression, but their characteristics and functions remain largely unexplored in Aegilops tauschii Coss., the D-genome progenitor of bread wheat. In this study, a genome-wide identification and characterization of the CAMTA gene family was performed, followed by phylogenetic, structural, conserved domain, promoter cis-element, and expression analyses under drought stress. Five AetCAMTA genes were identified and classified into three phylogenetic groups. All proteins contained conserved CG-1 DNA-binding, ankyrin repeat (ANK), and IQ calmodulin-binding domains and exhibited similar exon-intron organization. Promoter analysis revealed abundant hormone- and stress-responsive cis-elements, particularly abscisic acid-responsive element (ABRE) and drought-responsive MYB-binding site (MBS) motifs, suggesting their involvement in drought-responsive signaling. Quantitative RT-PCR showed genotype- and stress-dependent expression patterns, with the drought-tolerant ecotype (TN-01-1747) exhibiting higher expression of AetCAMTA1, AetCAMTA2, and AetCAMTA3 than the drought-sensitive ecotype (TN-01-1559) under moderate drought stress. These findings provide new insights into the evolutionary and functional characteristics of AetCAMTA genes and identify promising candidates for improving drought tolerance in wheat through molecular breeding and biotechnological approaches.

Gene Expression Regulation, Plant↗

Sympatric European white oaks species display contrasting epigenetic response to soil water availability.

In the context of climate change plants have to cope with adverse conditions, among which water scarcity is a major threat for their survival. They have developed diverse regulatory processes to face drought that may differ depending on their ecological niche. The two sympatric oaks species (Quercus robur L. and Quercus petraea (Matt.). Liebl) have different levels of drought tolerance. We have investigated their strategies to face drought stress by analysing the transcriptome, small RNAome and methylome dynamics of young plants grown under control and drought stress conditions. Data indicate that cell wall remodeling is most likely involved in the better tolerance Q. petraea than of Q. robur. Furthermore, major methylation differences were identified between both oak species that were in part associated to their difference in drought stress responses. Integration of the three datasets revealed genomic co-locations of potential importance for forest tree adaptation to drought stress. Our data are consistent with species-specific molecular responses of oak to drought stress related to their ecological niches.

Forest trees- Omics- ecological niche↗

Changes of some anti-oxidative physiological indices under soil water deficits among 10 wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes at tillering stage.

Drought is one of the major ecological factors limiting crop production and food quality globally, especially in the arid and semi-arid areas of the world. Wheat is the staple food for more than 35% of world population and wheat cultivation is mainly restricted to such zones with scarcity of water, so wheat anti-drought physiology study is of importance to wheat production, food safety and quality and biotechnological breeding for the sake of coping with abiotic and biotic conditions. The current study is to investigate changes of anti-oxidative physiological indices of 10 wheat genotypes at tillering stage. The main results and conclusion of tillering stage in terms of activities of POD, SOD, CAT and MDA content as followed: (1) 10 wheat genotypes can be generally grouped into three kinds (A-C, respectively) according to their changing trend of the measured indices; (2) A group performed better drought resistance under the condition of treatment level 1 (appropriate level), whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes (POD, SOD, CAT) were higher and MDA lower; (3) B group exhibited stronger anti-drought under treatment level 2 (light-stress level), whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes were higher and MDA lower; (4) C group expressed anti-drought to some extent under treatment level 3 (serious-stress), whose activities of anti-oxidative enzymes were stronger, MDA lower; (5) these results demonstrated that different wheat genotypes have different physiological mechanisms to adapt themselves to changing drought stress, whose molecular basis is discrete gene expression profiling (transcriptom). The study in this respect is the key to wheat anti-drought and biological-saving water in worldwide arid and semi-arid areas; (6) POD, SOD, and CAT activities and MDA content of different wheat genotypes had quite different changing trend at different stages and under different soil water stress conditions, which was linked with their origin of cultivation and individual soil water threshold, which will provide better reference to selecting proper plant species for eco-environmental construction and crops for sustainable agriculture in arid and semi-arid areas.

Antioxidants↗