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Abstract
Soil drought is a major problem in plant cultivation. This is particularly true for thermophilic plants, such as maize, which grow in areas often affected by precipitation shortage. The problem may be alleviated using plant growth and development stimulators. Therefore, the aim of the study was to analyze the effects of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), zearalenone (ZEN), triacontanol (TRIA) and silicon (Si) on water management and photosynthetic activity of maize under soil drought. The experiments covered three developmental stages: three leaves, stem elongation and heading. The impact of these substances applied during drought stress depended on the plant development stage. 5-ALA affected chlorophyll levels, gas exchange and photochemical activity of PSII. Similar effects were observed for ZEN, which additionally induced stem elongation and limited dehydration. Beneficial effects of TRIA were visible at the stage of three leaves and involved leaf hydration and plant growth. A silicon preparation applied at the same developmental stage triggered similar effects and additionally induced changes in chlorophyll levels. All the stimulators significantly affected transpiration intensity at the heading stage.
Highlights
Plant growth and development stimulators play an increasingly important role in global agriculture (Duan et al 2006; Hajam et al 2018)
Our experiments showed a modification of maize response to soil drought triggered by the application of plant growth stimulators
A similar response of the photosynthetic apparatus to 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) was reported for salinity stress (Naeem et al 2011) and excessive presence of cadmium (Ali et al 2013) or chromium (Ahmad et al 2017)
Summary
Plant growth and development stimulators play an increasingly important role in global agriculture (Duan et al 2006; Hajam et al 2018). E.g., aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), triacantanol (TRIA), zearalenone (ZEN), and silicon (Si). Their common feature is the possibility of limiting negative effects of environmental stresses on crop productivity (Hotta et al 1997; Korndorfer and Lepsch 2001; Naeem et al 2009; Biesaga-Kościelniak and Filek 2010). 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is an essential precursor of all porphyrin compounds, including chlorophyll and heme (von Wettstein et al 1995; Wu et al 2019). The stimulator affects chlorophyll content (Xu et al 2010), gas exchange (Akram et al 2018), water relations (Korkmaz et al 2010), and activity of antioxidant enzymes (Balestrasse et al 2010; Naeem et al 2011)
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