Alpha lipoic acid mitigates adverse impacts of drought stress on growth and yield of mungbean: photosynthetic pigments, and antioxidative defense mechanism.

Exogenous use of potential organic compounds through different modes is a promising strategy for the induction of water stress tolerance in crop plants for better yield. The present study aimed to explore the potential role of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) in inducing water stress tolerance in mungbean lines when applied exogenously through various modes. The experiment was conducted in a field with a split-plot arrangement, having three replicates for each treatment. Two irrigation regimes, including normal and reduced irrigation, were applied. The plants allocated to reduced irrigation were watered only at the reproductive stage. Three levels of ALA (0, 0.1, 0.15 mM) were applied through different modes (seed priming, foliar or priming+foliar). ALA treatment through different modes manifested higher growth under reduced irrigation (water stress) and normal irrigation. Compared to the other two modes, the application of ALA as seed priming was found more effective in ameliorating the adverse impacts of water stress on growth and yield associated with their better content of leaf photosynthetic pigments, maintenance of plant water relations, levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants, improved activities of enzymatic antioxidants, and decreased lipid peroxidation and H2O2 levels. The maximum increase in shoot fresh weight (29% and 28%), shoot dry weight (27% and 24%), 100-grain weight (24% and 23%) and total grain yield (20% and 21%) in water-stressed mungbean plants of line 16003 and 16004, respectively, was recorded due to ALA seed priming than other modes of applications. Conclusively, 0.1 and 0.15 mM levels of ALA as seed priming were found to reduce the adverse impact of water stress on mungbean yield that was associated with improved physio-biochemical mechanisms. The findings of the study will be helpful for the agriculturalists working in arid and semi-arid regions to obtain a better yield of mungbean that will be helpful to fulfill the food demand in those areas to some extent.

Mian NH ，Azeem M ，Ali Q ，Mahmood S ，Akram MS ... -  《PeerJ》

Alpha-tocopherol fertigation confers growth physio-biochemical and qualitative yield enhancement in field grown water deficit wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Ali Q ，Ali S ，Iqbal N ，Javed MT ，Rizwan M ，Khaliq R ，Shahid S ，Perveen R ，Alamri SA ，Alyemeni MN ，Wijaya L ，Ahmad P ... -  《Scientific Reports》

Foliar Spray of Fe-Asp Confers Better Drought Tolerance in Sunflower as Compared with FeSO(4): Yield Traits, Osmotic Adjustment, and Antioxidative Defense Mechanisms.

Ali Q ，Ali S ，El-Esawi MA ，Rizwan M ，Azeem M ，Hussain AI ，Perveen R ，El-Sheikh MA ，Alyemeni MN ，Wijaya L ... -  《Biomolecules》

Optimizing water relations, gas exchange parameters, biochemical attributes and yield of water-stressed maize plants through seed priming with iron oxide nanoparticles.

Drought poses significant risks to maize cultivation by impairing plant growth, water uptake and yield; nano priming offers a promising avenue to mitigate these effects by enhancing plant water relations, stress tolerance and overall productivity. In the current experiment, we tested a hypothesis that seed priming with iron oxide nanoparticles (n-Fe2O3) can improve maize performance under water stress by improving its growth, water relations, yield and biochemical attributes. The experiment was conducted on a one main plot bisected into two subplots corresponding to the water and drought environments. Within each subplot, maize plants were raised from n-Fe2O3 primed seeds corresponding to 0 mg. L- 1 (as control treatment), 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg. L- 1 (as trial treatments). Seed priming with n-Fe2O3 at a concentration of 75 mg. L- 1 improved the leaf relative water content, water potential, photosynthetic water use efficiency, and leaf intrinsic water use efficiency of maize plants by 13%, 44%, 64% and 17%, respectively compared to control under drought stress. The same treatments improved plant biochemical attributes such as total chlorophyll content, total flavonoids and ascorbic acid by 37%, 22%, and 36%, respectively. Seed priming with n-Fe2O3 accelerated the functioning of antioxidant enzymes such as SOD and POD and depressed the levels of leaf malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide significantly. Seed priming with n-Fe2O3 at a concentration of 75 mg. L- 1 improved cob length, number of kernel rows per cob, and 100 kernel weight by 59%, 27% and 33%, respectively, under drought stress. Seed priming with n-Fe2O3 can be used to increase maize production under limited water scenarios.

Mazhar MW ，Ishtiaq M ，Maqbool M ，Muzammil K ，Mohieldin A ，Dawria A ，Altijani AAG ，Salih A ，Ali OYM ，Elzaki AAM ，Adam BIY ，Adam HAM ... -  《BMC PLANT BIOLOGY》

Exogenous alpha lipoic acid can stimulate photosystem II activity and the gene expressions of carbon fixation and chlorophyll metabolism enzymes in maize seedlings under drought.

Protective compounds such as non-enzymatic antioxidants, osmolytes and signal molecules have been applied to plants exposed to various environmental stresses to increase their stress tolerance. However, there are not enough records about the response of plants to alpha lipoic acid (ALA) application with antioxidant properties. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the function of exogenous ALA on the photosynthetic performance of maize seedlings grown in hydroponic conditions under drought stress. Three weeks old seedlings were treated with or without ALA (12 μM) and they were subjected to drought stress induced by 10% polyethylene glycol (PEG6000) for 24 h. Chlorophyll content, gas exchange parameters, chlorophyll fluorescence and the expression levels of genes involved in CO2 fixation (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (rubisco), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPc), Rubisco activase (RCA)) and chlorophyll metabolism (magnesium chelatase (Mg-CHLI) and chlorophyllase (Chlase)) were determined. The application of ALA increased chlorophyll content and the activity of photosystem II in comparison to the untreated seedlings under drought stress. The relative expression levels of Rubisco, PEPc, RCA and Mg-CHLI significantly increased while the Chlase gene expression decreased in seedlings to which ALA was applied in comparison those to which it was not applied under the stress. These results suggest that exogenous ALA can enhance the photosynthetic performance of maize seedlings exposed to drought by inducing photosystem II activity and the gene expressions of carbon fixation and chlorophyll metabolism enzymes.

Sezgin A ，Altuntaş C ，Demiralay M ，Cinemre S ，Terzi R ... -  《-》