Mitigating drought-induced oxidative stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) through foliar application of sulfhydryl thiourea

作者：Nazia Ishfaq, Ejaz Ahmad Waraich, Muhammad Ahmad, Saddam Hussain, Usman Zulfiqar, Kaleem ul din, Arslan Haider, Jean Wan Hong Yong, Syed Muhammad Hassan Askri, Hayssam M. Ali · 发表于：Scientific Reports · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1038/s41598-024-66506-y · 被引用次数：26 · 研究领域：Agricultural Science and Fertilization、Crop Yield and Soil Fertility、Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance

Abstract Drought stress is a major abiotic stress affecting the performance of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L . ). The current study evaluated the effects of drought on wheat phenology, physiology, and biochemistry; and assessed the effectiveness of foliar-applied sulfhydryl thiourea to mitigate drought-induced oxidative stress. The treatments were: wheat varieties; V 1 = Punjab-2011, V 2 = Galaxy-2013, V 3 = Ujala-2016, and V 4 = Anaaj-2017, drought stress; D 1 = control (80% field capacity [FC]) and D 2 = drought stress (40% FC), at the reproductive stage, and sulfhydryl thiourea (S) applications; S 0 = control-no thiourea and S 1 = foliar thiourea application @ 500 mg L −1 . Results of this study indicated that growth parameters, including height, dry weight, leaf area index (LAI), leaf area duration (LAD), crop growth rate (CGR), net assimilation rate (NAR) were decreased under drought stress-40% FC, as compared to control-80% FC. Drought stress reduced the photosynthetic efficiency, water potential, transpiration rates, stomatal conductances, and relative water contents by 18, 17, 26, 29, and 55% in wheat varieties as compared to control. In addition, foliar chlorophyll a, and b contents were also lowered under drought stress in all wheat varieties due to an increase in malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage. Interestingly, thiourea applications restored wheat growth and yield attributes by improving the production and activities of proline, antioxidants, and osmolytes und...