Genotypic response of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars to drought stress implemented at pre- and post-anthesis stages and its relations with nutrient uptake and efficiency

Abstract

Uptake of mineral nutrients in chickpea cultivars might be an important response in drought tolerance. An experiment under controlled conditions was carried out to study the genotypic response of 11 chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars to drought and its relations with N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn and B uptake and uptake efficiency. Plants were grown either optimal or drought stress implemented at pre- (early drought stress, EDS) and post-anthesis (late drought stress, LDS) stages. Growth reduction of the cultivars as a response to drought significantly differed. The results of the study indicated that EDS had less detrimental effects on growth and nutrient uptake than LDS conditions. In general, drought tolerant chickpea cultivars accumulated more N, P, K, Ca, Zn, Mn and B in both drought stress treatments except for Zn and Mn uptake in LDS treatment. The total nutrient uptake efficiency of the cultivars were also very significantly correlated with the growth reduction ration (GR) both in EDS and LDS treatments giving correlation coefficients (r) of –7859 and –0.7678, p < 0.01, respectively.

Nutrient uptakes and their contributions to yield in peanut genotypes with different levels of terminal drought resistance

“…According to Xia (1997), N, P, and K uptake decreased significantly under water stress in faba bean. In a study carried out with chickpea, 11 screened cultivars varied greatly with respect to nutrient uptake in both optimal and drought conditions (Gunes et al, 2006). They also reported that drought treatments significantly reduced nutrient uptakes and efficiencies of the cultivars and that the decrease in nutrient uptakes was more serious in late drought stress treatment than in early drought stress treatment.…”

“…Most of the plant's nutrients, besides carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, originate from the soil (Marschner, 1986). Drought is deleterious for plant growth, yield, and mineral uptake (Suther and Patel, 1992) and cultivars differ in their responses to environmental stress at different growth stages (Garg, 2003;Gunes et al, 2006). Under water-stressed conditions, there is a reduction in total nutrient uptake, followed by a reduction in mineral nutrient concentrations in crop plants, due to the decreased soil moisture (Baligar et al, 2001;Gunes et al, 2006).…”

“…Information is also lacking on the response of peanut genotypes to nutrient uptakes under terminal drought and whether the stability of nutrient uptake contributes to drought resistance and yield in peanut. Gunes et al (2006) reported that chickpea cultivars exhibiting smaller reductions in nutrient uptake and efficiency should be presumed to be drought-resistant, and nutrient uptake efficiency involves drought tolerance mechanisms. Genotypic variability in the nutrient uptake of peanut genotypes is crucially important for selection and this mechanism can be used as a potential selection criterion for drought tolerance in peanut.…”

Drought Stress Effects on Photosynthesis, Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Water Relations in Tolerant and Susceptible Chickpea (Cicer Arietinum L.) Genotypes

“…Drought stress alters many physiological and metabolic processes in plants ( Gunes et al, 2006). Shoot dry weight is one of the earliest plant responses to drought.…”

Evaluation of canola chlorophyll index and leaf nitrogen under wide range of soil moisture

“…To tolerate many environmental stresses, plants set a plethora of adaptation mechanisms, from early responses to longer term metabolic and physiognomic alterations (Gunes et al, 2006). Water shortage stress is one of the most important abiotic stress factors which seriously limits plant growth and field crops production, more than any other environmental stresses.…”