Impact of Thiourea on Wheat's Morpho-Physiological and Ionic Attributes ( L.) under Lead Stress: Reducing the Translocation of Lead from Soil to Roots, Shoots, and Grains.

Wheat ( L.) is a key cereal crop broadly consumed across the earth. Nonetheless, abiotic stressor influences such as toxic metals severely limit its production. Thiourea (TU) is a sulfur-rich organic molecule that reduces the negative effects of environmental stresses such as heavy metals, including lead (Pb). Thus, the ongoing experiment was designed to assess the impact of thiourea amendment through soil (0 and 100 mg/L) on wheat cultivars Akbar 19 (V) and Ghazi 11 (V) under lead stress (0 mM and 15 mM Pb). The morphological features of the two cultivars (V and V), comprising the fresh weight of shoots (17 and 23%), fresh weight of roots (31 and 26%), leaf area (22 and 10.9%), and total chlorophyll content (16%), were all decreased due to the toxic effects of stress caused by heavy metals. However, treatment of thiourea through soil allowed counteracting the decrease in biomass caused by heavy metals. It improved the initial weight of the shoots upto (12.5 and 14.2%), roots by (37.5 and 24%), leaf surface area upto (17.6 and 7.9%), and total chlorophyll contents (18 and 9.9%) while decreasing the MDA levels by (16.9 and 22.3%) and the activities of HO upto (16 and 11.5%), root Pb activity upto (8.9 and 35%) and shoot Pb activity by (12.9 and 23.8%), grain concentration upto (25 and 7.56%), soil Pb content were reduced by(17 and 16%), in both varieties (V as well as V). Overall results indicate that treating wheat crops cultivated in pots with external thiourea decreased the damage from oxidation caused by lead and enhanced the antioxidant activity and ionic concentrations. Furthermore, all morpho-physiological parameters exhibited that Ghazi 11 (V) performed better relative to Akbar 19 (V). Nevertheless, note that research on wheat by application of thiourea-triggered changes in cultivation under heavy metal stress is still in its earliest stages, requiring more investigation to apply in wide fields.