Water stress executes severe influences on the plant growth and development through modifying physio-chemical properties. Therefore, a field experiment was designed to evaluate the
antioxidant status and their enhancements strategies for
water stress tolerance in chickpea on loam and
clay loam
soils under agro-ecological conditions of Arid Zone Research Institute, Bahawalpur (29.3871 °N, 71.653 °E) and Cholistan farm near Derawer (28.19°N, 71.80°E) of Southern Punjab, Pakistan during winter 2014-15. Experimental treatments comprised of two chickpea cultivars i.e. Bhakhar 2011 (drought tolerant) and DUSHT (drought sensitive), two
water stress levels i.e.
water stress at flowering stage and
water stress at flowering + pod formation + grain filling stage including well watered (control) and two exogenous application of osmoprotectants i.e.
glycine betaine (GB) 20 ppm and
proline 10 uM including distilled water (control). Results indicated that
water stress at various growth stages adversely affects the growth, yield and quality attributes of both chickpea cultivars. Exogenous application of GB and
proline improved the growth, yield and quality parameters of both chickpea cultivars even under
water stress conditions. However, superior results were obtained with exogenously applied GB on Bhakhar 2011 under well-watered conditions. Similarly, foliar spray of GB on chickpea cultivar Bhakhar 2011 under stress at flowering + pod formation + grain filling stage produced maximum
superoxide dismutase,
peroxidase and
catalase contents. These results suggested that application of GB mitigates the adverse effects of
water stress and enhanced tolerance in chickpea mainly due to higher
antioxidant enzymes activity, demonstrating the protective measures of plant cells in stress condition. Hence,
antioxidants status might be a suitable method for illustrating
water stress tolerance in chickpea.