Effect of water stress on growth responses of soybean plants pretreated with colchicine

Soybean is one of the most important sources of edible oil and proteins for both human and animal consumption.
This crop provides a balanced amino acid composition and has low purchase costs compared to other high-quality protein sources like meat.
This study, therefore, evaluated the effect of colchicine on morphometric and physiological parameters under induced drought stress.
Soybean seeds were imbibed in different concentrations of colchicine (0.0, 0.1, 0.5 and 1%) for 6, 12 and 24 h, and sown for germination in plastic pots containing a mixture of vermiculate and sand at ratio 3:1. Plants developed from the pretreated seeds were then exposed to water deficit stress at V2 by withholding irrigation.
Results expressed as means and variance (p<0.05) showed that colchicine was the most important source of poor germination (0 to 75%), reduced growth and physiological parameters, followed by water stress in all varieties.
Although, significant responses were detected for specific leaf index, proline content, chlorophyll content, total phenolics, proteins and DNA content in the two genotypes used.
This study indicated that thorough research is still needed to ascertain the influence of colchicine on improving tolerance to water deficit stress.

IV International Symposium on Horticulture in Europe – SHE2021

P. Mangena

colchicine, morphological changes, physiological variations, seed priming, soybean seeds

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1327.15