Maize Tolerance against Drought and Chilling Stresses Varied with Root Morphology and Antioxidative Defense System
Maize belongs to a tropical environment and is extremely sensitive to drought and chilling stress, particularly at early developmental stages. The present study investigated the individual and combined effects of drought (15% PEG-Solution) and chilling stress (15/12 °C) on morpho-physiological growt...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-06-01
|
| Series: | Plants |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/9/6/720 |
| _version_ | 1797565963892162560 |
|---|---|
| author | Hafiz Athar Hussain Shengnan Men Saddam Hussain Qingwen Zhang Umair Ashraf Shakeel Ahmad Anjum Iftikhar Ali Longchang Wang |
| author_facet | Hafiz Athar Hussain Shengnan Men Saddam Hussain Qingwen Zhang Umair Ashraf Shakeel Ahmad Anjum Iftikhar Ali Longchang Wang |
| author_sort | Hafiz Athar Hussain |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Maize belongs to a tropical environment and is extremely sensitive to drought and chilling stress, particularly at early developmental stages. The present study investigated the individual and combined effects of drought (15% PEG-Solution) and chilling stress (15/12 °C) on morpho-physiological growth, osmolyte accumulation, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and activities/levels of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in two maize hybrids (i.e., “XD889” and “XD319”) and two inbred cultivars (i.e., “Yu13” and “Yu37”). Results revealed that individual and combined exposure of drought and chilling stresses hampered the morpho-physiological growth and oxidative status of maize cultivars, nevertheless, the interactive damage caused by drought + chilling was found to be more severe for all the studied traits. Between two individual stress factors, chilling-induced reductions in seedling length and biomass of maize cultivars were more compared with drought stress alone. Greater decrease in root length and biomass under chilling stress ultimately decreased the volume and surface area of the root system, and restricted the shoot growth. All the stress treatments, particularly chilling and drought + chilling, triggered the oxidative stress by higher accumulation of superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl ion, and malondialdehyde contents compared with the control. Variations in response of maize cultivars were also apparent against different stress treatments, and XD889 performed comparatively better than the rest of the cultivars. The better growth and greater stress tolerance of this cultivar was attributed to the vigorous root system architecture, as indicated by higher root biomass, root surface area, and root volume under drought and chilling stresses. Moreover, efficient antioxidant defense system in terms of higher total antioxidant capability, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione reductase activities also contributed in greater stress tolerance of XD889 over other cultivars. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:20:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b685a132fc1d4059937baf5862cb226a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:20:10Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-b685a132fc1d4059937baf5862cb226a2023-11-20T03:02:22ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472020-06-019672010.3390/plants9060720Maize Tolerance against Drought and Chilling Stresses Varied with Root Morphology and Antioxidative Defense SystemHafiz Athar Hussain0Shengnan Men1Saddam Hussain2Qingwen Zhang3Umair Ashraf4Shakeel Ahmad Anjum5Iftikhar Ali6Longchang Wang7College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400716, ChinaDepartment of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, PakistanInstitute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaDepartment of Botany, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore 54770, PakistanDepartment of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, PakistanCollege of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400716, ChinaMaize belongs to a tropical environment and is extremely sensitive to drought and chilling stress, particularly at early developmental stages. The present study investigated the individual and combined effects of drought (15% PEG-Solution) and chilling stress (15/12 °C) on morpho-physiological growth, osmolyte accumulation, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and activities/levels of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in two maize hybrids (i.e., “XD889” and “XD319”) and two inbred cultivars (i.e., “Yu13” and “Yu37”). Results revealed that individual and combined exposure of drought and chilling stresses hampered the morpho-physiological growth and oxidative status of maize cultivars, nevertheless, the interactive damage caused by drought + chilling was found to be more severe for all the studied traits. Between two individual stress factors, chilling-induced reductions in seedling length and biomass of maize cultivars were more compared with drought stress alone. Greater decrease in root length and biomass under chilling stress ultimately decreased the volume and surface area of the root system, and restricted the shoot growth. All the stress treatments, particularly chilling and drought + chilling, triggered the oxidative stress by higher accumulation of superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl ion, and malondialdehyde contents compared with the control. Variations in response of maize cultivars were also apparent against different stress treatments, and XD889 performed comparatively better than the rest of the cultivars. The better growth and greater stress tolerance of this cultivar was attributed to the vigorous root system architecture, as indicated by higher root biomass, root surface area, and root volume under drought and chilling stresses. Moreover, efficient antioxidant defense system in terms of higher total antioxidant capability, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione reductase activities also contributed in greater stress tolerance of XD889 over other cultivars. https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/9/6/720maizeantioxidant defense systemosmolytechillingdroughtreactive oxygen species |
| spellingShingle | Hafiz Athar Hussain Shengnan Men Saddam Hussain Qingwen Zhang Umair Ashraf Shakeel Ahmad Anjum Iftikhar Ali Longchang Wang Maize Tolerance against Drought and Chilling Stresses Varied with Root Morphology and Antioxidative Defense System Plants maize antioxidant defense system osmolyte chilling drought reactive oxygen species |
| title | Maize Tolerance against Drought and Chilling Stresses Varied with Root Morphology and Antioxidative Defense System |
| title_full | Maize Tolerance against Drought and Chilling Stresses Varied with Root Morphology and Antioxidative Defense System |
| title_fullStr | Maize Tolerance against Drought and Chilling Stresses Varied with Root Morphology and Antioxidative Defense System |
| title_full_unstemmed | Maize Tolerance against Drought and Chilling Stresses Varied with Root Morphology and Antioxidative Defense System |
| title_short | Maize Tolerance against Drought and Chilling Stresses Varied with Root Morphology and Antioxidative Defense System |
| title_sort | maize tolerance against drought and chilling stresses varied with root morphology and antioxidative defense system |
| topic | maize antioxidant defense system osmolyte chilling drought reactive oxygen species |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/9/6/720 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hafizatharhussain maizetoleranceagainstdroughtandchillingstressesvariedwithrootmorphologyandantioxidativedefensesystem AT shengnanmen maizetoleranceagainstdroughtandchillingstressesvariedwithrootmorphologyandantioxidativedefensesystem AT saddamhussain maizetoleranceagainstdroughtandchillingstressesvariedwithrootmorphologyandantioxidativedefensesystem AT qingwenzhang maizetoleranceagainstdroughtandchillingstressesvariedwithrootmorphologyandantioxidativedefensesystem AT umairashraf maizetoleranceagainstdroughtandchillingstressesvariedwithrootmorphologyandantioxidativedefensesystem AT shakeelahmadanjum maizetoleranceagainstdroughtandchillingstressesvariedwithrootmorphologyandantioxidativedefensesystem AT iftikharali maizetoleranceagainstdroughtandchillingstressesvariedwithrootmorphologyandantioxidativedefensesystem AT longchangwang maizetoleranceagainstdroughtandchillingstressesvariedwithrootmorphologyandantioxidativedefensesystem |