Grewal, Satvir KaurDavinder Kaur2016-09-302016-09-302016http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/79560The study was conducted to appraise the influence of water defi¬cit stress conditions on antioxidative defence system and physiology in different tissues such as roots, leaves, nodules, pod wall and seeds at various stages of vegetative and reproductive growth under field conditions; and roots, shoots and cotyledons at 7 days after germination under laboratory conditions, in two chickpea cultivars differing in rooting behaviour, ICC4958 (deep rooted) and ILC3279 (shallow rooted). The major physiological traits contributing to water deficit stress tolerance in ICC4958 are increase in root area, decrease in leaf area index and early flowering while in ILC3279 decrease in root area and an increase in leaf area index were observed. The physiological adaptation of ICC4958 was also accompanied by biochemical adjustments, like increase in specific activities and expression of antioxidative enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase and catalase; and non enzymatic antioxidants like ascorbic acid, proline, stress induced proteins and compatible osmolyte glycine betaine. Increase in antioxidant enzymes, non enzymatic antioxidants and proteins in ILC3279 was less as compared to ICC4958. Better ability of ICC4958 to combat water deficit stress induced oxidative stress relative to ILC3279 was also revealed by more prominent increase in reducing power, ferric reducing ability and capacity to scavenge DPPH, superoxide and OH free radicals. Lower MDA (malondialdehyde) content and MPI (membrane permeability index) in ICC4958 might be responsible for less damage under water deficit stress as compared to ILC3279.enchickpea cultivarsBiotechnologychickpeaprotein profilingThesis