The Effect of Drought Stress and Selenium on some Growth and Physiological Characteristics of Isfahan Yellow Landrace Onions (Allium cepa L.)

Subject Areas : Journal of Crop Ecophysiology

Nooshin Haghani ¹ , Masoomeh Amerian ² , Mahmoud Khorami Vafa ³

1 - Former Graduated Student, Department of Production Engineering and Plant Genetics, Faculty of Science and Agriculture Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Production Engineering and Plant Genetics, Faculty of Science and Agriculture Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Production Engineering and Plant Genetics, Faculty of Science and Agriculture Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

Received: 2019-10-21 Accepted : 2020-01-27 Published : 2020-03-20

Keywords: flavonoid, Total phenol, Stomatal Conductance, Total Soluble Sugar,

Abstract :

Selenium due to its physiological and anti-oxidative properties is considered to be essential micronutrient for humans, animals and plants. The positive effects of selenium on reduction of various environmental stresses in plants is, however, still unclear and need to be explored. In this study, the effect of selenium on increasing drought tolerance of yellow landrace onions in Isfahan was investigated by factorial experiment in a completely randomized design under greenhouse conditions. Treatments were drought stress at three levels (0, 50 and 75% of field capacity) and levels of selenium at three levels (0, 5 and 10 mg.L-1 sodium selenate). Foliar application of selenium was performed in two plant growth stages. The first foliar application at the onset of stress (onion production stage) and the second application was carried out two weeks after the onset of stress (onion development stage). Increasing selenium concentrations, under all levels of drought, traits like plant height (62.66 cm), leaf number (11.66), fresh weight (36.82 g) and dry weight of bulb (4.66 g) were increased. In contrast to drought stress, selenium concentrations increased onion physiological properties (total phenol, flavonoid, total soluble sugar, relative leaf water content and stomatal conductance). Increased onion growth under drought stress is attributed to the antioxidant property of selenium. Because, selenium acts as an oxidant at high concentrations it decreased growth. Selenium at 10 mg.L-1 did not have any detrimental effect on onions. It increased the growth of bulb and seedling onion. These results suggest that selenium application may improve antioxidantal defense system of onions under drought stress conditions. Thus, its use may be recommended under arid and semiarid regions.

References:

· Amerian, M., F. Dashti, and M. Delshad. 2018. Effects of different levels selenium and nitrogen on some growth and biochemical characteristics of onion (Allium cepa L.) plant. Journal of Plant Production Research. 25(1): 119-135. (In Persian).
· Anonymous. 2018. Statistical center of Iran. 33pp
· Ardalani, Sh., M. Saeidi, S. Jalali Honarmand, M.E. Ghobadi, and M, Abdoli. 2015. Effect of post anthesis drought stress on some agronomic and physiological traits related to source strength in four bread wheat genotypes. Cereal Research. 5(1): 45-65.
· Baker, N.R, and E. Rosenquist. 2004. Application of chlorophyll fluorescence can improve crop production strategies: An examination of future possibilities. Journal of Experimental Botany. 55: 1607-1627.
· Bamberg, S.M., S.J. Ramos, M.A. Carbone Carneiro, and J.O. Siqueira. 2019. Effects of selenium (Se) application and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AMF) inoculation on soybean (Glycine max) and forage grass (Urochloa decumbens) development in oxisol. Australian Journal of Crop Science. 13(03): 380-385.
· Bhatt, R.M., and N.K. Srinivasa-Rao. 2005. Influence of pod load on response of okra to water stress. Indian Journal Plant Physiology. 10: 54-59.
· Buick, Z., H. Hassanpoure Darvishi1, H. Mozafari1, and D. Habibi. 2013. Effect of selenium foliar application on antioxidant enzymes activity and MDA in coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) medicinal plant under drought stress conditions. Journal of Crop Research. 5(1): 35-49.
· Chang, Y.L., D.O. Kim, K.W. Lee, H.J. Lee, and C.Y. Lee. 2002. Vitamin C equivalent anti-oxidant capacity (VCEAC) of phenolic phytochemicals. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 50(13): 3713-3717.
· Chapman, H.I., and P.F. Pratt. 1961. Methods of analysis for soils, plants and waters. The University of California's Division of Agricultural Science, Berkeley, California, USA.
· Chimenti, C.A., J. Pearson, and A.J. Hall. 2002. Osmotic adjustment in maize: Genetic variation and association with water uptake. In: Edmeades, G.O. (ed.). Developing Drought and Low N-Tolerant Maize. 200-203 pp., Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT), Mexico DF (Mexico). CIMMYT
· Cuderman, P., I. Kreft, M. Germ, M. Kovacevic, and V. Stibilj. 2008. Selenium species in selenium-enriched and drought-exposed potatoes. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 25(619): 9114-9120.
· D’Abrosca, B., S. Pacifico, G. Cefarelli, C. Mastellone, and A. Fiorentino. 2007. Limoncella apple, an Italian apple cultivar: phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity. Food Chemistry. 104: 1333-1337.
· Dadnia, M.R. 2018 a. Effect of water deficit stress and foliar application of selenium on the activity of some antioxidant enzymes in oilseed sunflower cultivars. Crop Physiology Journal. 4(14): 71-81. (In Persian).
· Dadnia, M.R. 2018 b. Wheat response (Triticum aestivum L.) to selenium under normal irrigation and water deficit conditions. Journal of Crop Ecophysiology. 45(1): 21-36. (In Persian).
· Dini, I., G.C. Tenore, and Dini, A. 2008. Chemical composition, nutritional value and antioxidant properties of Allium cepa L. var. tropeana (red onion) seeds. Food Chemistry. 107(2): 613-621.
· Duan, B., Y. Yang, Y. Lu, H. Korpelainen, F. Berninger, and C. Li. 2007. Interactions between water deficit, ABA, and provenances in Picea asperata. Journal of Expermintal Botany. 58(11): 3025-3036.
· Emam, M.M., H.E. Khattab, N.M. Helal, and A.E. Deraz. 2014. Effect of selenium and silicon on yield quality of rice plant grown under drought stress. Australian Journal of Crop Science. 8(4): 596-605.
· Fedine, L.S., and A.V. Popova. 1996. Photosynthesis, photorespiration and proline accumulation in water-stressed pea leaves. Crop Science. 32: 213-220.
· Ghodke, P.H., P.S. Andhale, U.M. Gijare, A. Thangasamy, Y.P. Khade, V. Mahajan, and M. Singh. 2018. Physiological and Biochemical Responses in Onion Crop to Drought Stress. Internationl Journal Current Microbiology Applied Science. 7(1): 2054-2062.
· Habibi. 2013. Effect of drought stress and selenium spraying on photosynthesis and antioxidant activity of spring barley. Acta Agriculturae Slovenica. 10(1): 31–39.
· Hajiboland, R., N. Keyvanfar, A. Joudmand, H. Rezaee, and M. Yousefnejad. 2014. Effect of selenium treatment on drought tolerance of canola plants. Journal of Plant Research. 27(4): 557-568.
· Han-Wens, S., H. Jing, L. Shu-Xuan, and K. Wei-Jun. 2010. Protective role of selenium on garlic growth under cadmium stress. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 41: 1195-1204.
· Hartikainen, H., T. Xue, and V. Piironen. 2000. Selenium as an anti-oxidant and pro-oxidant in ryegrass. Plant Soil. 225: 193–200.
· Hasegawa, P.M, R.A. Bressan, J.K. Zhu, and H.J. Bohnert. 2000. Plant cellular and molecular responses to high salinity. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology. 51: 463-499.
· Hattori, T., A. Lux Tanimoto, E. Luxova, M. Sugimoto, and Y. Inanaga. 2001. The effect of silicon on the growth of sorghum under drought. - In: Morita, S. (ed.): The 6^th Symposium of the International Society of Root Research. pp. 348-349. Japanese Society for Root Research (JSRR), Nagoya.
· Hawrylak-Nowak, B., R. Matraszek, and M. Szymariska. 2010. Selenium modifies the effect of short-term chilling stress on cucumber plants. Biological Trace Element Research. 138: 307-315.
· Hendry, G. 1993. Evolutionary origins and natural functions of fructanc. New Phytologist. 123: 3-14.
· Irigoyen, J.J., D.W. Emerrich, and M. Sanchez–Diaz. 1992. Water stress induction changes in concentrations of proline and total sugars in nodulated alfalfa. Plant Physiology. 84: 55–60.
· Jó´zwiak, W., and B. Politycka. 2019. Efect of selenium on alleviating oxidative stress caused by a water deficit in cucumber roots. Plants. 8(7): 217-235.
· Kumar, A., and D.P. Singh. 1998. Use of physiological indices as a screening technique for drought tolerance in oilseed Brassica species. Annals of Botany. 81: 413-420.
· Kuznetsov, V.V., V.P. Kholodova, and B.A. Yagodin. 2003. Selenium regulates the water status of plants exposed todrought. Doklady Biolological Science. 390: 266-268.
· Lan, C.Y., C.Y.K.H. Lin, W.D. Huang, and C.C. Chen. 2019. Protective effects of selenium on wheat seedlings under salt stress. Agronomy Journal. 9(6): 272-286.
· Lobato, A.K.S., C.F. Oliveira Neto, B.G. Santos Filho, R.C.L. Costa, F.J.R. Cruz, H.K.B. Neves, and M.J.S. Lopes. 2008. Physiological and biochemical behavior in soybean (Glycine max cv. Sambaiba) plants under water deficit. Australian Journal of Crop Science. 2: 25-32.
· Maali-Amiri, R., I.V. Goldenkova-Pavlova, V. Pchelkin, V.D. Tsydendambaev, A.G. Vereshchagin, A.N. Deryabin, T.I. Trunova, D.A. Los, and A.M. Nosov. 2007. Lipid fatty acid composition of potato plants transformed with the 12-desaturase gene from cyanobacterium. Russian Journal of Plant Physiology. 54: 678-685.
· Marschner, H. 1995. Mineral nutrition of higher plants. Academic Press. London, 549-561.
· Maxwell, K., and G.N. Johnson. 2000. Chlorophyll fluorescence-a practical guide. Journal of Experimental Botany. 51: 659-668.
· Mirzakhani, M. 2014. Evaluation the effect of water stress and selenium application on stress susceptibility indices of maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars in Markazi.Applied Research of Plant Ecophysiology. 1(3): 65-80.
· Munne-Bosch, S., and L. Alegre. 2004. Die and let live: leaf senescence contributes to plant survival under drought stress. Funetional Plant Biology. 31: 203-216.
· Naeemi, M., G.A. Akbari, A.H, Shirani Rad, T. Hasanloo, G.A. Akbari, and M. Amirinejad. 2015. The effect of zeolite application and selenium foliar spraying under different moisture regimes on some physiological traits and grain yield in medicinal pumpkin.Journal of Crops Improvement. 17(3):635.647. (In Persian).
· Najafinezhad, H., Ravari, S.Z, and Javaheri, M.A. 2020. Variation of Forage Yields and some Agronomic and Physiological Characteristics of Kochia, Millet, Sorghum and Maize under Drought Stress. Journal of Crop Ecophysiology. 4(52): 535-554. (In Persian).
· Nawaz, F., R. Ahmad, M.Y. Ashraf, E.A. Waraich, and S.Z. Khan. 2015. Effect of selenium foliar spray on physiological and biochemical processes and chemical constituents of wheat under drought stress. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. 113: 191–200
· Ordone, A.A.L., J.D. Gomez, and M.A. Vattuone. 2008. Antioxidant activities of Sechium edule swartz extracts. Food Chemistry. 97: 452-458.
· Pennanen, A., T. Xue, and H. Hartikainen. 2002. Protective role of selenium in plant subjected to severe UV irradiation stress. Journal of Applied Botany. 76: 66−76.
· Plaue, Z., A. Grava, Ch.Yehezkel, and E. Matan. 2004. How do salinity and water stress affect transport of water, assimilates and ions to tomato fruits? Physiologia Plantarum. 122: 429-442
· Poldma, P., T. Tonutaret, A. Viitak, A. Luikt, and U. Moort. 2011. Effect of selenium treatment on mineral nutrition, bulb size and antioxidant properties of garlic (Allium cepa L.). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 59(10): 5498-5503.
· Proietti, P., L. Nasini, D.D. Buono, R. D’Amato, E. Tedeschini, and D. Businelli. 2013. Selenium protects olive (Olea europaea L.) from drought stress. Scientia Horticulturae. 164: (17): 165-171.
· Qiang-yun, Sh., M. Turakainen, M. Seppänen, and P. Mäkelä. 2008. Effects of selenium on Maize ovary development at pollination stage under water deficits. Agricultural Sciences in China. 7(11): 1298-1307.
· Safaryazdi, A., M. Lahoti, and A. ganjali. 2012. Effect of different concentrations of selenium on plant physiological characteristics of spinach Spinacia oleraceae. Journal of Horticultural Science. 26(3): 292-300. (In Persian).
· Sajedi, N.A. 2017. Evaluation of selenium and salicylic acid effect on physiological and qualitative characteristics of dry-land wheat cultivars. Iranian Journal of Agricultural Research. 36(2): 91-100. (In Persian)
· Schonfeld, M.A., R.C. Johnson, B.F. Carwer, and D.W. Mornhinweg. 1988. Water relations winter wheat as drought resistance indicators. Crop Science. 28: 526-531.
· Seppanen, M., M. Turakainen, and H. Hartikainen. 2003. Selenium effects on oxidative stress in potato. Plant Science. 165: 311-319.
· Silva, H., S. Sagardia, O. Seguel, C. Torres, N. Franck, C. Tapia, and L. Cardemil. 2010. Effect of water availability on growth and water use efficiency for biomass and jel production in aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller). Industrial Crops Production. 31: 20-27.
· Taha, N.M., Sh.H. Abd-Elrahman, and F.A. Hashem. 2019. Improving yield and quality of garlic (Allium sativum L.) under water stress Conditions. Middle East Journal of Agriculture. 08(1): 330-346.
· Whanger, P.D. 2002. Review. Selenocompounds in plants and animals and their biological significance. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 21: 223-232.
· White, P.J., H.C. Bowen, P. Parmaguru, M. Fritz, W.P. Spracklen, R.E. Spiby, M.C. Mecham, A. Mead, M. Harriman, L.J. Trueman, B.M. Smith, B. Thomas, and M.R. Broadley. 2004. Interaction between selenium and sulphur nutrition in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology. 55: 1927-1937.
· Xue, T.L., H. Hartikainen, and V. Piironen. 2001. Antioxidative and growth-promoting effects of selenium on senescing lettuce. Plant Soil. 237: 55-61.
· Yao, X., J. Chu, and G. Wang. 2009. Effects of selenium on wheat seedlings under drought stress. Biological Trace Element Research. 130(3):283-90.
· Yordanov, V., and T. Tsoev. 2000. Plant responses to drought, acclimation and stress tolerance. Photosynthica. 38: 171-186.
Zahedi, P., I. Rezaeian, S.O. Ranaei-Siadat, S.H. Jafari, and P. Supaphol. 2010. A review on wound dressings with an emphasis on electrospun nanofibrous polymeric bandages. Polymers for Advanced Technologies. 21: 77–95.

Zoyer, C., J.E. Dat, and I.M. Scott. 2005. Hydrogen peroxide in oilseed sunflower. Physiologia Plantarum. 5: 241-254.