Bulletin of the National Research Centre (Aug 2019)
Potential role of kaolin or potassium sulfate as anti-transpirant on improving physiological, biochemical aspects and yield of wheat plants under different watering regimes
Abstract
Abstract Background and objective Certain substances with some physical and chemical activities can be used to decrease the transpiration rate and alleviate plant water stress through rising leaf resistance to the diffusion of water vapor. Wheat plant is considered as one of the most important and economic winter plants. So, the objective of this work is to evaluate the response of wheat plants (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar Gimeza 7 to various concentrations of foliar application of anti-transpirant substances as kaolin (3 and 6%), potassium sulfate (100 and 200 mg/l). Materials and methods Two pot experiments were conducted during 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 successive growing winter seasons under greenhouse conditions at the Experimental Station, in the National Research Centre, Egypt. The plants were exposed to various levels of water holding capacity (WHC) 80, 60, and 40%. Results Water stress led to a decrease in growth parameters, yield components, photosynthetic pigments, and carbohydrate contents as compared to 80% of WHC. Meanwhile, water stress caused significant increases in some compatible solute (total soluble sugar, free amino acids, and proline) and some antioxidant enzymes activities. Foliar treatments of wheat plants with kaolin or K2SO4 led to an increase in growth parameters, yield components, photosynthetic pigments, and carbohydrate constituents. More accumulation of the organic solutes of leaves (total soluble sugar and free amino acids), antioxidant enzyme activities, and some minerals (N, P, K, and Ca) was observed. Data also illustrated that the nutritional values of the grain yield of wheat were also improved when sprayed with kaolin and K2SO4. Conclusion The used substances are safe for the environment, and for the plant, potassium is an essential nutrient and its ability controls several biochemical and physiological responses in plants. Kaolin also can ameliorate plant physiology and consequently lead to higher yield production.
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