Abstract
Sesame is an important crop in West and Central Africa playing a role of an alternative cash crop for smallholders. However, sesame productivity is highly impaired by drought. This study aimed at identifying some drought-resistant genotypes and efficient screening traits in large sesame germplasm. Ten genotypes were examined based on 21 biochemical, physiological, agromorphological and seed quality traits under three weeks of water stress. A high variability for drought resistance was observed among the genotypes. The genotypes WC17, WC18 and WC14 were drought resistant, WC12, WC13, WC06 and WC03 were moderately drought resistant while, WC02, WC10 and WC08 were drought sensitive, based on principal component analysis. The resistant genotypes exhibited both avoidance and tolerance features including increase of the root system, reduced water loss, highest activity of antioxidative enzymes and accumulation of proline. They produced higher biomass and had higher ability to maintain seed quality under drought stress compared with the sensitive genotypes. Strong accumulation (~200% ratio stress/control) of biochemical markers including superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, catalase and proline could be regarded as an important indicator for selecting drought resistant genotypes. This study represents a reference for future research towards developing new varieties with improved drought resistance in West and Central Africa.
Highlights
Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is a very ancient crop and often termed as “the queen of oil seeds”because of its high oil quantity and quality [1]
The originality of the present investigation resides in the fact that (1) it focused on a diverse West and Central African genotypes not yet studied for traits related to drought resistance; and (2) it used an integrated approach by combining agromorphological, physiological, biochemical and seed quality traits to efficiently identify useful genotypes and traits of interest to be targeted for implementing breeding programs in drought-prone environments of West and Central Africa
Based on the strong and positive correlation between root traits and biochemical markers uncovered in this study, we propose that strong accumulation of superoxide dismutase (SOD), CAT, proline content (Pr) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) (~200% ratio stress/control) could be regarded as an efficient indicator to accurately and rapidly identify drought resistant sesame genotypes
Summary
Because of its high oil quantity and quality [1] It is grown in most West and some Central. Sesame has developed from a crop of marginal importance to a major agricultural export commodity involving several million family-based farmers in this area [3]. Because the crop is mostly grown under rain fed conditions in arid and semi-arid areas of West and Central Africa, it is often subjected to terminal and intermittent droughts [6]. Identifying drought resistant genotypes is of utmost importance for sesame breeding programs in West and Central Africa [14]. It is difficult to determine an individual indicator for accurately and effectively screen different genotypes for drought resistance as plants have an array of morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular responses at cellular and whole organism levels, making it a more complex phenomenon [15]
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