INVESTIGATION S O N TH E EFFECT S O F WATE R STRES S O N METABOLI C ALTERATION S I N PIGEONPE A ( Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh ) GENOTYPE S

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Date
1991
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MPKV, UNIVERSITY LIBRARY RAHURI
Abstract
Investigations were undertaken to identify some biochemical markers for stress tolerance of pigeonpea genotypes by quantifying some metabolic alterations during the water stress. The nitrogen fixing ability of the pigeonpea genotypes under water stress conditions was assessed by estimating leghaemoglobin (haemin) content of nodules and their drought tolerance examined by estimating the contents of proline- and carbohydrates. J?ive promising pigeonpea genotypes viz., TAT-10, ICPL-151, ICPL-87, TVishakha-1 and BDN-1, grown on Vertisol in pots, were subjected to increasing water stress at V?th day of crop growth by withholding irrigation for *+, 8 and 12 days under the glasshouse conditions. The metabolic alterations were monitored and compared with the unstressed control. The changes in soil moisture, leaf in vivo nitrate reductase activity, free proline content, nodule number, leghaemoglobin (haemin) and total nitrogen in plants,available nitrogen in soil, total phenols and carbohydrates in plants during the water stress were determined and compared with the unstressed control. The results indicated an apparent decrease in leaf in vivo nitrate reductase activity, nodule number, the contents of leghaemoglobin (haemin), total nitrogen in plants and available nitrogen of soil under the water stress. However, the water stress significantly increased the contents of free proline in the leaves, total phenols and carbohydrates in the plants of all the five pigeonpea genotypes. The nodule number and haemin content of nodules as well as the proline and total nitrogen contents of pigeonpea cultivars appeared to be closely related with each other under the water stress conditions. The results of the present study revealed that among the pigeonpea cultivars studied, BDlv-1 exhibited higher nitrogen fixing ability under the water stress conditions, followed by TVishakha-1 and ICPL-87, based on the retention of haemin content of nodules. However, on the basis of percent increase in accumulation of proline in leaves and carbohydrates in plants over the unstressed control, the cultivar TAT-10 appeared to be more drought tolerant than other cultivars.
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