Abstract
Linum album (Ky. ex Boiss.) is an important medicinal plant that produces compounds such as the well-known anticancer lignan podophyllotoxin and fatty acids. Despite its high medicinal value, it has not yet been studied in detail under agricultural conditions. This study was conducted to evaluate the morphological, phenological, and physiological responses of six L. album accessions under different levels of water deficit treatments (100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% available water) in pot conditions. Based on the results, some of the morphological characteristics of the response to water deficit were established. Accessions UTLA7, UTLA9, and UTLA10 showed a higher seed yield and dry weight of the vegetative part. There was a substantial difference in the occurrence of phenological stages in the accessions. The maturation process was accelerated in plants under stress conditions, and accession UTLA9 completed its complete growth cycle faster than the other accessions. The physiological responses of the different accessions did not show the same pattern on the basis of the characteristics studied, and significant differences were observed depending on the trait and accession. Among the most important results of this study was the diversity of responses in different accessions. Based on these results, it is recommended that morphological features (such as seed yield per plant, plant height, number of inflorescences per plant, shoot and root dry weight) be used to select tolerant accessions for the desired product.
Highlights
Linum album Ky. ex Boiss. is a perennial medicinal plant belonging to the Linaceae family.This species is an endemic plant in Iran, where it grows in the northwest, west, and central regions.The flowering and maturing stage of this plant lasts from May to July [1,2]
The response of the six L. album accessions to different irrigation levels showed a significant difference in most traits, including the seed width, weight of 1000 seeds, inflorescence length, main branch length, plant height, leaf length, flower diameter, root length, and fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots (Table S2)
On the basis of the results of the analysis of morphological traits, and given that the experiment was conducted under fully uniform conditions, the high genetic diversity of accessions can be considered the main cause of significant differences, as in previous studies, where the existence of diversity among L. album accessions has been stated [13,61,62]
Summary
Linum album Ky. ex Boiss. is a perennial medicinal plant belonging to the Linaceae family.This species is an endemic plant in Iran, where it grows in the northwest, west, and central regions.The flowering and maturing stage of this plant lasts from May to July [1,2]. Is a perennial medicinal plant belonging to the Linaceae family. This species is an endemic plant in Iran, where it grows in the northwest, west, and central regions. L. album contains important lignan compounds such as podophyllotoxin and 6-methoxypodophyllotoxin, which have antiviral and antitumoral properties [3]. Podophyllotoxin, a well-known lignan, serves as the unique starting compound for the semisynthesis of the leading anticancer drug Etoposide (VP16). Its derivatives (class of topoisomerase II inhibitors) used in a dozen anticancer chemotherapy treatments [4,5]. These drugs are on the list of essential medicines of the World Health Organization (WHO) [5]. The supply of Agronomy 2020, 10, 1966; doi:10.3390/agronomy10121966 www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy
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