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Methyl jasmonate alleviates drought stress in young sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris L.) plants
Author(s) -
Fugate Karen K.,
Lafta Abbas M.,
Eide John D.,
Li Guolong,
Lulai Edward C.,
Olson Linda L.,
Deckard Edward L.,
Khan Mohamed F. R.,
Finger Fernando L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of agronomy and crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.095
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-037X
pISSN - 0931-2250
DOI - 10.1111/jac.12286
Subject(s) - transpiration , agronomy , photosynthesis , sugar beet , stomatal conductance , proline , drought tolerance , methyl jasmonate , sugar , shoot , water use efficiency , abscisic acid , drought stress , biology , irrigation , horticulture , botany , biochemistry , amino acid , gene
Drought is the major cause of yield and economic loss for the sugar beet crop. Mechanisms to reduce drought stress, however, are lacking as sugar beets are largely produced without irrigation and drought‐tolerant varieties are not available. As jasmonates are implicated in plant drought‐stress responses, research was conducted to determine whether methyl jasmonate (Me JA ) could mitigate drought effects on sugar beet. Fourteen‐day‐old plants were treated with 0, 0.01, 0.1, 1 or 10 μM Me JA . Seven days later, half of the plants were drought‐stressed by withholding water, while control plants continued to receive water. Drought caused leaf relative water content ( RWC ), shoot fresh and dry weights, net photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate ( EVAP ), stomatal conductance (Gs), water‐use efficiency ( WUE ) and PSII quantum efficiency to decline and substomatal CO 2 concentration (Ci) and proline and betaine concentrations to increase. Me JA , at 1 and 10 μM, reduced moderate and severe drought effects on RWC , Pn, Ci and WUE and altered drought‐induced changes in proline accumulation, but had no effect on Gs, EVAP or betaine accumulation. Results indicate that Me JA delayed plant dehydration and protected the photosynthetic apparatus from drought‐induced impairment. Exogenous application of Me JA , therefore, alleviates drought stress on young sugar beets and may provide a tool to reduce the economic loss caused by dry conditions during early crop production.