Articles
PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES AND TOLERANCE OF ARTEMISIA HERBA-ALBA TO WATER DEFICIT
Article number
853_11
Pages
99 – 106
Language
English
Abstract
The present study deal with the physiological behavior of Artemisia herba-alba (Asso.) under drought stressed conditions imposed by suppression of soil irrigation.
Four-month-old seedlings were subjected for 36 days to water deficit at 40% and 70% of field water capacity (FC) and control pots were maintained at 100% FC throughout the entire growth period.
A subset of stressed plants was thereafter subjected to the optimal regime of irrigation for additional 40 days to study their recovery responses.
The results obtained show that the highest growth potentialities were recorded for control plants (100%). A high variability was observed in the parameters examined which linked to the water shortage.
The highest dead leaf number (DLN) and root length (RL) were noticed in stressed plants revealing the lowest dry matter production and stem water potentials (Ψw). The stem elongation rate (SER) and leaf elongation rate (LER) decreased as water stress was intensified.
Rewatering stressed plants restored these parameters at values close to those of plants permanently irrigated with 100% FC. These results may contribute to identify useful physiological traits for breeding programs concerning drought adaptation of Artemisia.
Four-month-old seedlings were subjected for 36 days to water deficit at 40% and 70% of field water capacity (FC) and control pots were maintained at 100% FC throughout the entire growth period.
A subset of stressed plants was thereafter subjected to the optimal regime of irrigation for additional 40 days to study their recovery responses.
The results obtained show that the highest growth potentialities were recorded for control plants (100%). A high variability was observed in the parameters examined which linked to the water shortage.
The highest dead leaf number (DLN) and root length (RL) were noticed in stressed plants revealing the lowest dry matter production and stem water potentials (Ψw). The stem elongation rate (SER) and leaf elongation rate (LER) decreased as water stress was intensified.
Rewatering stressed plants restored these parameters at values close to those of plants permanently irrigated with 100% FC. These results may contribute to identify useful physiological traits for breeding programs concerning drought adaptation of Artemisia.
Authors
C. Guenaoui, M. Gorai, S. Aschi-Smiti, M. Neffati
Keywords
aromatic plant, drought, growth, rewatering, water potential
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