Hameed Arruje, Farooq Tahir, Hameed Amjad, Sheikh Munir Ahmad
Department of Biochemistry, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Department of Applied Chemistry, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Front Plant Sci. 2021 Feb 19;12:625541. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.625541. eCollection 2021.
Water-deficit stress negatively affects seed germination, seedling development, and plant growth by disrupting cellular and metabolic functions, reducing the productivity and yield of field crops. In this study, sodium silicate (SS) has been employed as a seed priming agent for acclimation to mild water-deficit stress by invoking priming memory in wheat plants. In pot experiments, the SS-primed (20, 40, and 60 mM) and non-primed control seeds were allowed to grow under normal and mild water-deficit conditions. Subsequently, known methods were followed for physiological and biochemical studies using flag leaves of 98-day mature wheat plants. The antioxidant and hydrolytic enzymes were upregulated, while proteins, reducing sugars, total sugars, and glycine betaine increased significantly in the flag leaves of wheat plants originated from SS-treated seeds compared to the control under mild water-deficit stress. Significant decreases in the malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline contents suggested a controlled production of reactive oxygen species, which resulted in enhanced cell membrane stability. The SS priming induced a significant enhancement in yield, plant biomass, and 100-grain weight of wheat plants under water-deficit stress. The improvement in the yield parameters indicated the induction of Si-mediated stress acclimation in SS-primed seeds that elicited water-deficit tolerance until the maturity of plants, ensuring sustainable productivity of climate-smart plants.
水分亏缺胁迫通过破坏细胞和代谢功能，降低大田作物的生产力和产量，对种子萌发、幼苗发育和植株生长产生负面影响。在本研究中，硅酸钠（SS）已被用作种子引发剂，通过激发小麦植株的引发记忆来适应轻度水分亏缺胁迫。在盆栽试验中，经SS引发（20、40和60 mM）和未引发的对照种子在正常和轻度水分亏缺条件下生长。随后，采用已知方法对98天成熟小麦植株的旗叶进行生理生化研究。与轻度水分亏缺胁迫下的对照相比，源自经SS处理种子的小麦植株旗叶中抗氧化酶和水解酶上调，同时蛋白质、还原糖、总糖和甘氨酸甜菜碱显著增加。丙二醛（MDA）和脯氨酸含量显著降低，表明活性氧的产生得到控制，从而提高了细胞膜稳定性。在水分亏缺胁迫下，SS引发显著提高了小麦植株的产量、生物量和百粒重。产量参数的改善表明，经SS引发的种子诱导了硅介导的胁迫适应，从而在植株成熟前引发水分亏缺耐受性，确保了气候智能型作物的可持续生产力。
