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RELATIONSHIP OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC
CAPACITY AND PROLINE ACCUMULATION WITH THE GROWTH OF DIFFERENTLY ADAPTED POPULATIONS OF TWO POTENTIAL GRASSES (CYNODON
DACTYLON (L.) PERS. AND CENCHRUS
CILIARIS L.) TO DROUGHT STRESS
NUDRAT AISHA
AKRAM, MUHAMMAD SHAHBAZ* AND MUHAMMAD ASHRAF
Abstract:
Response
of two populations of each of two grass species viz., Cynodon
dactylon (L.) Pers. and Cenchrus
ciliaris L. to drought stress was assessed in a pot experiment. One
population of each grass species was collected from the Salt Range which
is known for high salt and drought stress. The other population was
collected from a frequently irrigated soil in Faisalabad. Eighty eight
days old plants of each population were subjected for 30 d to different
water stress levels [control (maintained at field capacity), 75 % or 50
% of field capacity). Although growth of both grass species from two
different habitats decreased with increase in water deficit conditions,
the Salt Range populations of both grass species produced significantly
higher shoot biomass than Faisalabad populations. A significant
detrimental effect of water deficit conditions was observed on
chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b,
chlorophyll a/b ratio, proline
contents, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance,
sub-stomatal CO2 concentration and also on Ci/Ca
ratio, but not on water use efficiency. Although populations of both species from the Salt Range were more drought
tolerant as compared to those from Faisalabad, it was not possible to
discriminate among the populations on the basis of biochemical and
physiological parameters examined in this study.
Department
of Botany,
University
of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
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