Abstract
<p dir="ltr"><span>The present study was designed to study the effect of water stress on </span><span>Lycopersicon esculentum</span><span> Mill. and role of sodium silicate in the protection of tomato plants under water deficit condition.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Different biochemical parameters such as photosynthetic pigments, protein, sugar, MDA content, proline, nitrate reductase activity and activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, APX and POX) were examined in tomato leaves at 40 and 60 DAS by the standard methods. The lycopene and β-carotene contents</span><span>in tomato fruits were also analyzed at 60, 65 and 70 DAS.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Water stress significantly decreased relative water content (RWC), pigment content, sugar and protein contents in tomato leaves at 60 DAS but the accumulation of proline was stimulated in tomato leaves under water deficit condition. The activities of antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, CAT, APX and POX were significantly increased under (3d and 6d) water stress condition at 60 DAS.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-05eb48fe-e950-ee27-fc39-fe0ccdaffeb9"><span>This study offers first hand information on the water stress-induced oxidative stress in </span><span>Lycopersicon esculentum</span><span>and development of antioxidative defense system against drought.</span><span>The results obtained clearly indicated the positive impact of sodium silicate in protection of tomato plants under water deficit condition.</span></span>
Highlights
Water stress is an important threat to plant growth and sustainable agriculture worldwide [1]
The authors of the present investigation already reported significant reduction in various morphological parameters of tomato plants under water stress condition and its alleviation by supplementation of sodium silicate [42].Silicon improves plant growth under water stress condition by affecting a variety of metabolic processes such as improved water status of plant [43], regulation of plant defense system [44] and changes in leaf organelles ultra-structure [45].The beneficial effects of silicon are attributed to its deposition in cell wall of leaves and stems of plants that protect against multiple abiotic and biotic stresses [46]
Relative water content was significantly increased with increase in concentration of sodium silicate at 40 DAS with maximum increase in T2 treatment but decreased significantly after 6 days water stress treatment (Table - 1 and 2)
Summary
Water stress is an important threat to plant growth and sustainable agriculture worldwide [1]. The higher plants possess very efficient enzymatic and non-enzymatic anti oxidative defense mechanism that allow the scavenging of ROS and protection of cellular components from oxidative damage [8]. Silicon acts as plant protectant, plays a pivotal role in enhancing the plants growth and productivity especially in stress condition [17]. No effort seems to have been made to study the protective role of sodium silicate in the development of antioxidative defense system in Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. This study may explore the possible mechanism for sodium silicate mediated water stress tolerance and it may help in development of future strategies for the development of crop plants in drought prone areas
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