Alleviation of drought stress by root-applied thiourea is related to elevated photosynthetic pigments, osmoprotectants, antioxidant enzymes, and tubers yield and suppressed oxidative stress in potatoes cultivars.

The growth and productivity of plants are enhanced by the use of thiourea (TU) under stressful conditions. When TU is applied as a rooting medium, it improves plant growth characteristics and other physiological parameters in stressed environment. A pot experiment was conducted in the botanical garden of the Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan to examine the TU-mediated fluctuations in some crucial physio-biochemical parameters and the oxidative defense of potatoes under a restricted water supply. For this purpose, two potato cultivars (potato-SH-5 and potato-FD-73) were sown in pots containing 10 kg of soil. Water was regularly applied to the pots until germination. After 2 weeks of germination, drought stress with 65% field capacity was imposed, while the control was subjected to 100% field capacity. TU, as a rooting medium, was applied at the vegetative stage (0 (no application), 0.5, 0.75 mM). A substantial reduction in the total number of leaves, leaf area, tuber biomass (fresh and dry weight), photosynthetic pigments, membrane permeability, and leaf relative water content (RWC) was recorded in plants under drought stress conditions as compared to control plants. The damaging effects of water stress were more critical for cv. potato-FD-73 as compared to cv. potato-SH-5. In contrast, drought stress enhanced the malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content while also increased antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT)) and triggered the accumulation of soluble proteins, soluble sugars, proline, and phenolic and anthocyanin contents. However, TU applied as rooting medium at 0.5 and 0.75 mM was effective in reducing the detrimental effects of water stress in both cultivars. Furthermore, increasing levels of TU enhanced chlorophyll pigments, dissolved proteins, complete dissolved sugars, and enzymatic capabilities of POD, SOD, and CAT, while reducing the MDA and H2O2 in both cultivars under stress conditions. In conclusion, TU improved the yield and chlorophyll pigments of potato plants by mitigating the adverse effects of drought stress through reduced EL, MDA, and H2O2 contents and improved activities of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants and osmoprotectants.

Saleem MH ，Wang X ，Parveen A ，Perveen S ，Mehmood S ，Fiaz S ，Ali S ，Hussain S ，Adnan M ，Iqbal N ，Alatawi A ，Ali S ... -  《PeerJ》

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria alleviates drought stress in potato in response to suppressive oxidative stress and antioxidant enzymes activities.

Batool T ，Ali S ，Seleiman MF ，Naveed NH ，Ali A ，Ahmed K ，Abid M ，Rizwan M ，Shahid MR ，Alotaibi M ，Al-Ashkar I ，Mubushar M ... -  《Scientific Reports》

Methionine-induced regulation of growth, secondary metabolites and oxidative defense system in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) plants subjected to water deficit stress.

Mehak G ，Akram NA ，Ashraf M ，Kaushik P ，El-Sheikh MA ，Ahmad P ... -  《PLoS One》

Silicon Priming Regulates Morpho-Physiological Growth and Oxidative Metabolism in Maize under Drought Stress.

Parveen A ，Liu W ，Hussain S ，Asghar J ，Perveen S ，Xiong Y ... -  《Plants-Basel》

Effect of exogenous alpha-tocopherol on physio-biochemical attributes and agronomic performance of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) under drought stress.

Shah W ，Ullah S ，Ali S ，Idrees M ，Khan MN ，Ali K ，Khan A ，Ali M ，Younas F ... -  《PLoS One》