Seed germination and antioxidant enzyme activity in seedlings of diploid and tetraploid bahiagrass under water restriction

Abstract

The objective of the following research was to investigate the physiological responses of two bahiagrass genotypes (Paspalum notatum Flügge) submitted to water restriction, induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG6000), during seed germination. Seeds of cv. Pensacola (diploid) and Bagual ecotype (tetraploid) were placed on paper moistened with osmotic solutions at potentials of 0.0; -0.1; -0.2 and -0.3 MPa. Composed of two subsamples of 100 seeds and four experimental units per treatment, the germination test was conducted in a germination chamber under alternating temperatures of 30 °C (8 hours) and 20 °C (16 hours), with presence of light during the higher temperature. Final germination percentage and germination speed index of the seeds, as well as early growth, activity and expression of antioxidant enzymes of seedlings were evaluated. The water restriction induced by PEG6000 reduced the percentage of germination in Pensacola (from 74% to 59%) and Bagual (34% to 10%). For the latter, the evaluation of seedlings showed higher dry mass in relation to cv. Pensacola (1.7 times higher in root and 1.6 times in shoot). In response to moderate water restriction, the genotypes showed increases in root growth (1.7 times higher in -0.1 compared to 0.0 MPa), both in expression and enzymatic activity (superoxide dismutase and catalase).

The Response and Evaluation of Morphology, Physiology, and Biochemistry Traits in Triploid Passiflora edulis Sims ‘Mantianxing’ to Drought Stress

“…Different kinds of enzymes can effectively minimize the deleterious effects of ROS in different ways; therefore, antioxidant enzymes are considered crucial indicators for evaluating plant stress tolerance [ 71 , 72 ]. In studies on stress resistance in plants, polyploids showed a more efficient resistant system than diploids [ 73 ]. Moreover, the increased tolerance to environmental stress of polyploids was attributed to their higher antioxidant enzyme activity to a large extent [ 74 , 75 ].…”