Abstract
The effects of different water stress (control, medium, and severe) on some morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics and bud success of M9 apple and MA quince rootstocks were determined. The results showed that water stress significantly affected most morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics as well as budding success on the both rootstocks. The increasing water stress decreased the relative shoot length, diameter, and plant total fresh and dry weights. Leaf relative water content and chlorophyll index decreased while electrolyte leakage increased with the increase of water stress in both rootstocks. An increase in water stress also resulted in reduction in budding success in Vista Bella/M9 (79.33% and 46.67%) and Santa Maria/MA (70.33% and 15.33%) combinations. However, the water stress in Santa Maria/MA was more prominent. The increase in water stress resulted in higher peroxidase activities as well as phenol contents in both rootstocks. Although catalase activity, anthocyanin, and proline contents increased with the impact of stress, this was not statistically significant. The results suggest that the impact of stress increased with the increase of water stress; therefore, growers should be careful when using M9 and MA rootstocks in both nursery and orchards where water scarcity is present.
Highlights
In semiarid and arid regions during spring and summer months, the evaporative demand for the atmosphere results in significant drought stress in many crop plants, which is one of the most severe environmental stresses and affects almost all plant functions
Decline in relative shoot length (RSL) was more severe at “severe water stress” conditions in MA than that happened in M9 rootstocks
In view of findings of the present study, it can be concluded that water stress strongly affected both rootstocks and decreased plant growth of M9 and MA rootstocks
Summary
In semiarid and arid regions during spring and summer months, the evaporative demand for the atmosphere results in significant drought stress in many crop plants, which is one of the most severe environmental stresses and affects almost all plant functions In these conditions, water stress causes serious reduction in growth, quantity, and quality in many plants [1, 2]. Water stress causes serious reduction in growth, quantity, and quality in many plants [1, 2] It frequently occurs in both intensive fruit orchards and nurseries in many parts of the world. This situation directed researchers to make further investigations to reduce severe effects of water stress on different plant species. Active oxygen species (AOS) and antioxidative enzymatic responses have been proposed [10,11,12,13]
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