Abstract
Soybean is an important cash crop in the world, and drought is the main reason for the loss of soybean plants productivity, with drought stress during the most water-sensitive flowering period of soybeans. In this article, drought-tolerant variety Heinong 44 (HN44) and drought-sensitive variety Heinong 65 (HN65) were used as experimental materials. Drought treatment was carried out at the early flowering stage. The method of controlling soil moisture content was used to simulate different degrees of drought, and the physiological changes of these two varieties of soybean under different soil moisture contents were studied. The results showed that with a decrease in soil moisture content, the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in soybean leaves increased significantly; the activities of peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbic acid peroxidase (APX) increased first and then decreased; the content of proline, soluble sugar, and soluble protein increased; and the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) increased significantly. When the soil moisture content was 15.5%, the degree of membrane lipid peroxidation, osmotic regulatory substances, antioxidant enzyme activity, and T-AOC increased the most, and the decrease in drought-tolerant variety HN44 was significantly less than that of drought-sensitive variety HN65. Our research reveals the response law of soybean crops to physiological characteristics under water deficit and provides theoretical basis and guiding significance for drought-resistant cultivation and breeding of soybean.
Highlights
A native to Chine and grown throughout the country, soybean is an important grain and oil crop that plays an important role in food, pharmaceutical, and feed processing and bioenergy production
When the soil moisture content was 15.5%, MDA content in Heinong 44 (HN44) increased by the largest proportion, to 64.59%
MDA content in HN44 increased the least, to 4.88% on the fourth day after withholding water, while Heinong 65 (HN65) showed the smallest increase in MDA content after 7 days of withholding water, when soil moisture content had fallen to 14.5%
Summary
A native to Chine and grown throughout the country, soybean is an important grain and oil crop that plays an important role in food, pharmaceutical, and feed processing and bioenergy production The root system of soybeans is underdeveloped, while water demand during the plant life cycle is high. The root system is more sensitive to adverse conditions, such as drought, which may cause yield losses ranging from 25 to 50% (Zou et al, 2020). The soybean plant is most sensitive to water deficit during the flowering period, when water shortage will most seriously affect yield. Enhancing drought resistance of the soybean root system during the flowering period has become a major focus of research
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