Abstract
Rapeseed is a valuable oil crop due to its high nutritious value and ample oil content. The current study provides a comparative analysis of 24 cultivars to better understand the performance and predict the adaptative mechanisms of drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive cultivars based on germination and morphophysiological traits during the early seedling stage using PEG-6000 simulated drought conditions. JYZ 158 and FY 520 (tolerant cultivars) and YG 2009 and NZ 1838 (sensitive cultivars) were selected to further explore the role of osmolytes and enzymatic activity in improving drought tolerance. This investigation illustrated that drought stress negatively influenced all studied cultivars; however, the degree of influence was different for each cultivar, suggesting their different potential for drought tolerance. Moreover, enzymatic and osmoregulatory mechanisms were highly efficient in tolerant cultivars compared to sensitive cultivars. Additionally, tolerant cultivars showed higher chlorophyll and lower malondialdehyde (MDA) contents versus sensitive cultivars under drought stress conditions. Higher drought tolerance coincided with higher enzymatic activity and osmolyte content. This work showed that JYZ 158 and FY 520 cultivars had higher drought tolerance, and might be a significant germplasm resource for breeding programs developing drought-tolerant rapeseed.
Highlights
Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is a valuable and economically important oilseed crop globally, occupying a large cultivation area in China with more than 7 million hectares [1]
Germination and growth-related traits showed variation among all studied cultivars, showing that tolerance against drought stress varied with exposure level and cultivar
The results show that drought negatively affects seed germination and seedling growth
Summary
Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is a valuable and economically important oilseed crop globally, occupying a large cultivation area in China with more than 7 million hectares [1]. It is one of the most important crops for global oil production and is a multipurpose edible crop [2]. Drought stress is a critical abiotic factor that damages plants, increases oxidative stress and reduces plant height [6]. It negatively affects morpho-physiochemical processes and metabolic responses [7]. Drought-stressed rapeseed seedlings show a decrease in germination percentage, poor growth and vigor index with lower biomass accumulation [8], along with severe oxidative damage and impaired antioxidant defense systems [9]
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