Abstract
Water‐stressed plants accumulate considerable amounts of free proline in their leaf tissues. The physiological significance of this metabolic response to water deficit is, however, contentious.Proline accumulation in in vitro‐stressed seedling leaf segments and its associations with a number of physiological responses induced by water deficit was studied in 14 wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars with known drought resistance rankings. The cultivars differed (at P <0.05) in their capacity to accumulate proline, which was also intercorrelated with increases in total catabolic amino acids and sugars during stress.The study did not corroborate the purported association of high proline concentration in stressed leaf tissues with drought resistance, severity of leaf firing, or post‐stress recovery. High relative growth rate of seedlings subjected to moderate water stress was found to be strongly correlated with drought susceptibility.
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