Abstract
The present study involved two pot experiments to investigate the response of mung bean to the individual or combined SO42− and selenate application under drought stress. A marked increment in biomass and NPK accumulation was recorded in mung bean seedlings fertilized with various SO42− sources, except for CuSO4. Compared to other SO42− fertilizers, ZnSO4 application resulted in the highest increase in growth attributes and shoot nutrient content. Further, the combined S and Se application (S + Se) significantly enhanced relative water content (16%), SPAD value (72%), photosynthetic rate (80%) and activities of catalase (79%), guaiacol peroxidase (53%) and superoxide dismutase (58%) in the leaves of water-stressed mung bean plants. Consequently, the grain yield of mung bean was markedly increased by 105% under water stress conditions. Furthermore, S + Se application considerably increased the concentrations of P (47%), K (75%), S (80%), Zn (160%), and Fe (15%) in mung bean seeds under drought stress conditions. These findings indicate that S + Se application potentially increases the nutritional quality of grain legumes by stimulating photosynthetic apparatus and antioxidative machinery under water deficit conditions. Our results could provide the basis for further experiments on cross-talk between S and Se regulatory pathways to improve the nutritional quality of food crops.
Highlights
Climate change has increased the vulnerability of cropping systems, which may trigger a loss of livelihoods of poor communities in arid and semi-arid regions of the world (Leng and Hall 2019)
These findings indicate that S ? Se application potentially increases the nutritional quality of grain legumes by stimulating photosynthetic apparatus and antioxidative machinery under water deficit conditions
Among different SO42- fertilizers, ZnSO4 application resulted in the highest shoot length (SL) (37%), root length (RL) (51%), shoot fresh weight (SFW) (26%), and shoot dry weight (SDW) (25%) in AZRI-2006 with respect to control
Summary
Climate change has increased the vulnerability of cropping systems, which may trigger a loss of livelihoods of poor communities in arid and semi-arid regions of the world (Leng and Hall 2019). Detrimental effects of drought are likely to aggravate the world’s limiting available fresh water supply to fulfill the food demand for the ever-increasing population (Leng 2017). In this regard, it is Physiol Mol Biol Plants (May 2021) 27(5):1073–1087 imperative to recognize the importance of climate-resilient crops such as legumes and promote their value throughout the food systems. Legumes are an integral part of a healthy and balanced human diet and play important role in preventing many acute diseases Due to their atmospheric nitrogen (N) fixing ability, they increase soil C and N, reduce soil erosion and help to control soil pathogens (Rubiales and Mikic 2015). Application of mineral nutrients actively involved in stress tolerance and defense mechanisms could be used as a viable option to alleviate the damaging effects of environmental stresses in legumes (Afzal et al 2015)
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