Abstract
As temperatures rise and water availability decreases, the water decit is gaining attention regarding future agricultural production. Drought stress is a global issue and adversely affects the productivity of different crops. In this study, drought-tolerant varieties of oats were screened to determine drought-tolerant varieties that may be employed in drought-prone areas to achieve sustainable development and mitigate the impact of climate change. To do so, the growth and stress adaptive mechanism of 15 domestic and overseas oat cultivars at the seedling stage were analyzed. Water stress was simulated using 20% polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000). The results showed that the soluble protein content and superoxide dismutase activity of variety DY2 significantly increased under drought stress, whereas the photochemical efficiency and relative water content decreased slightly. The relative electrical conductivity (REC) and drought damage index of the QH444 and DY2 varieties increased the least. The peroxidase content of Q1 and DY2 significantly increased, and the catalase activity of Q1, QH444, and DY2 also substantially increased. Principal component analysis revealed that nine physiological and biochemical parameters were transformed into three independent comprehensive indexes. The comprehensive evaluation results showed that DY2, LN, and Q1 exhibited a strong drought resistance capacity and could be used as a reference material for a drought-resistant oat breeding program. The gray correlation analysis also indicated that Fv/Fm, chlorophyll, REC, and malondialdehyde could be used as key indexes for evaluating the drought resistance of oat.
Highlights
The Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is known as the earth’s third pole with an average altitude of more than 4,000 m and an area of 2.5 million km2 (Yang et al, 2015)
Compared with that of the control, the relative water content (RWC) of LX, QH444, and DY2 slightly decreased under drought stress
When a plant is in a state of drought stress, the cells in the plant body respond in a timely manner, and changes are mainly observed in the appearance of the plant (Farooq et al, 2009); we can directly judge the degree of damage caused by drought by observing the phenotypic characteristics of plants
Summary
The Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is known as the earth’s third pole with an average altitude of more than 4,000 m and an area of 2.5 million km (Yang et al, 2015). The ecological environment in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is relatively fragile, and the distribution of precipitation among the four seasons is extremely irregular. It is projected that the intensity of drought may increase by 1% to 30% by 2100, as a result of global warming (Parry et al, 2007). Because of the increasing global population, human activities are intensifying, thereby leading to a rise in agricultural water consumption. Water shortage is a worldwide problem and one of Drought Stress on Oat Physiological the most important environmental stresses limiting crop yields globally (Tuberosa and Salvi, 2006; Lobell et al, 2008)
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