Department of Botany, Government College Women University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
Department of Botany, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 27;12(1):12842. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-16866-0.
Drought stress is among the major threats that affect negatively crop productivity in arid and semi-arid regions. Probably, application of some additives such as biochar and/or brassinosteroids could mitigate this stress; however, the mechanism beyond the interaction of these two applications is not well inspected. Accordingly, a greenhouse experiment was conducted on wheat (a strategic crop) grown under deficit irrigation levels (factor A) i.e., 35% of the water holding capacity (WHC) versus 75% of WHC for 35 days while considering the following additives, i.e., (1) biochar [BC, factor B, 0, 2%] and (2) the foliar application of 24-epibrassinolide [BR, factor C, 0 (control treatment, C), 1 (BR1) or 3 (BR2) μmol)]. All treatments were replicated trice and the obtained results were statistically analyzed via the analyses of variance. Also, heat-map conceits between measured variables were calculated using the Python software. Key results indicate that drought stress led to significant reductions in all studied vegetative growth parameters (root and shoot biomasses) and photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a, b and total contents) while raised the levels of oxidative stress indicators. However, with the application of BC and/or BR, significance increases occurred in the growth attributes of wheat plants, its photosynthetic pigments, especially the combined additions. They also upraised the levels of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants while decreased stress indicators. Furthermore, they increased calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) content within plants. It can therefore be deduced that the integral application of BR and BC is essential to mitigate drought stress in plants.
干旱胁迫是影响干旱和半干旱地区作物生产力的主要威胁之一。可能，应用一些添加剂，如生物炭和/或油菜素内酯，可以减轻这种胁迫；然而，这两种应用的相互作用背后的机制还没有得到很好的检查。因此，在温室条件下进行了一项小麦（战略作物）的实验，在亏缺灌溉水平下生长（因子 A），即 35%的水分保持能力（WHC）与 75%的 WHC 相比，持续 35 天，同时考虑以下添加剂，即（1）生物炭[BC，因子 B，0，2%]和（2）24-表油菜素内酯[BR，因子 C，0（对照处理，C），1（BR1）或 3（BR2）μmol]的叶面喷施。所有处理均重复 3 次，通过方差分析对获得的结果进行了统计分析。此外，还使用 Python 软件计算了测量变量之间的热图概念。主要结果表明，干旱胁迫导致所有研究的营养生长参数（根和茎生物量）和光合色素（叶绿素 a、b 和总含量）显著降低，同时提高了氧化应激指标的水平。然而，应用 BC 和/或 BR 后，小麦植株的生长特性、光合色素（特别是联合添加）显著增加。它们还提高了酶和非酶抗氧化剂的水平，同时降低了应激指标。此外，它们还增加了植物体内钙（Ca）、磷（P）和钾（K）的含量。因此，可以得出结论，BR 和 BC 的综合应用对于缓解植物的干旱胁迫至关重要。
