Chishti Muhammad Shahbaz, Shahbaz Muhammad, Kaleem Muhammad, Shafi Saba, Mehmood Anam, Qingzhu Zhang, Mansha Musarat, Shehzadi Nimra, Rana Shamsa, Shahid Hina, Hashem Abeer, Alfagham Alanoud, Abd-Allah Elsayed Fathi
State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China.
Department of Botany , University of Agriculture, Faisalabad , 38040, Pakistan.
BMC Plant Biol. 2025 Jan 9;25(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s12870-025-06052-5.
Water scarcity is a foremost environmental concern and is expected to hasten in the forthcoming years due to severe fluctuations in weather patterns worldwide. The present work was designed to explore the potential role of alpha-tocopherol (α-Toc), a form of vitamin E, on the morphological, physio-biochemical, and cellular antioxidant responses of two radish genotypes grown under drought conditions (38 ± 3% of field capacity). The individual and combined applications of α-Toc (100 ppm) were used as T0- Control, T1- Control + TF (TF-alpha-tocopherol), T2- Drought (D), and T3- D + TF with three replications. In general, drought conditions cause a marked reduction in, growth traits such as root length (RL), shoot dry weight (SDW), and shoot fresh weight (SFW). However, the sole and combined applications of α-Toc significantly enhanced the SDW, SFW, and RL in both radish genotypes. Drought stress causes a significant upsurge in hydrogen peroxide (HO) and lipid peroxidation (LPX) in leaves. At the same time, exogenous fertigation of α-Toc protects the membranes by reducing the level of LPX, enhancing antioxidants such as catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX) to scavenge the reactive oxygen species (ROS), and enhancing the osmolyte as total soluble proteins to maintain cell internal osmotic potential. Also, the α-Toc enhanced the photosynthetic pigments and significantly increased photosynthetic activity in the Early Milo (G2) as compared to Laal Pari (G1) genotype under drought, enhancing water use efficiency by maintaining transpiration rate and stomatal conductance. The α-Toc also regulates the beneficial inorganic ions (K, Ca, and PO₄³⁻) in the shoots of both genotypes. Our present findings demonstrate the potential role of α-Toc in mitigating drought stress and infer that it can enhance plant growth under drought conditions.
水资源短缺是一个首要的环境问题，由于全球天气模式的剧烈波动，预计在未来几年情况会加剧。本研究旨在探讨维生素E的一种形式——α-生育酚（α-Toc）对在干旱条件（田间持水量的38±3%）下生长的两种萝卜基因型的形态、生理生化和细胞抗氧化反应的潜在作用。α-Toc（100 ppm）的单独和联合应用设置为T0-对照、T1-对照+TF（TF-α-生育酚）、T2-干旱（D）和T3-D+TF，共三个重复。一般来说，干旱条件会导致根长（RL）、地上部干重（SDW）和地上部鲜重（SFW）等生长性状显著降低。然而，α-Toc的单独和联合应用均显著提高了两种萝卜基因型的SDW、SFW和RL。干旱胁迫导致叶片中过氧化氢（HO）和脂质过氧化（LPX）显著增加。同时，外源施用α-Toc可通过降低LPX水平来保护细胞膜，增强过氧化氢酶（CAT）和过氧化物酶（POX）等抗氧化剂以清除活性氧（ROS），并增加作为总可溶性蛋白的渗透溶质以维持细胞内渗透压。此外，与干旱条件下的Laal Pari（G1）基因型相比，α-Toc提高了Early Milo（G2）基因型的光合色素含量并显著增加了光合活性，通过维持蒸腾速率和气孔导度提高了水分利用效率。α-Toc还调节了两种基因型地上部中有益无机离子（K、Ca和PO₄³⁻）的含量。我们目前的研究结果证明了α-Toc在减轻干旱胁迫方面的潜在作用，并推断它可以在干旱条件下促进植物生长。
