Foliar Application of Trehalose or 5-Aminolevulinic Acid Improves Photosynthesis and Biomass Production in Drought Stressed <i>Alpinia zerumbet</i>
Faisal Zulfiqar,
Jianjun Chen,
Patrick M. Finnegan,
Muhammad Nafees,
Adnan Younis,
Narmeen Shaukat,
Nadeem Latif,
Zainul Abideen,
Abbu Zaid,
Ali Raza,
Zamin Shaheed Siddiqui,
Karim Ben Hamed
Affiliations
Faisal Zulfiqar
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Jianjun Chen
Environmental Horticulture Department and Mid-Florida Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, 2725 South Binion Road, Apopka, FL 32703, USA
Patrick M. Finnegan
School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Muhammad Nafees
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Adnan Younis
Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Narmeen Shaukat
Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Nadeem Latif
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Zainul Abideen
Dr. Muhammad Ajmal Khan Institute of Sustainable Halophyte, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan
Abbu Zaid
Plant Physiology and Biochemistry Section, Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, India
Ali Raza
Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular and Cell Biology, Oil Crops Research Institute, Center of Legume Crop Genetics and Systems Biology/College of Agriculture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Zamin Shaheed Siddiqui
Stress Physiology and Phenomic Center, Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan
Karim Ben Hamed
Laboratory of Extremophile Plants, Centre of Biotechnology of Borj-Cedria, P.O. Box 901, Hammam-Lif 2050, Tunisia
Alpinia zerumbet is an important medicinal and ornamental plant species. Drought stress is a major concern for sustainable horticulture crop production under changing climate scenarios. Trehalose (Tre) and 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) are osmoprotectants that play important roles in mitigating plant stresses. In this study, the effects of foliar application of 25 mM Tre or 10 mg L−1 ALA on biochemical and physiological parameters of A. zerumbet seedlings and their growth were evaluated under well-watered and drought-stressed (65% of field capacity) conditions. Drought caused reductions in physiological parameters and plant growth. These decreases were accompanied by increases in leaf free proline and glycine betaine concentrations and peroxidase activities. Foliar application of Tre or ALA remediated physiological and biochemical parameters and plant growth. Overall, foliar application of ALA or Tre proved to be beneficial for mitigating drought stress in A. zerumbet.
