Journals Information
Universal Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 10(5), pp. 474 - 487
DOI: 10.13189/ujar.2022.100503
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Physiological and Biochemical Evaluations for Identification of Drought Tolerance Potential in Doum Palms (Hyphaene Compressa) under Water Deficit Treatment
Allen Johnny Borlay 1,2,*, Cecilia Mbithe Mweu 3, Steven Ger Nyanjom 4, Kevin Mbogo Omolo 4
1 Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Pan African University, Nairobi, Kenya
2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia
3 Institute for Biotechnology Research, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya
4 Department of Biochemistry, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya
ABSTRACT
There is an increasing concern over global warming, which has changed climate and weather patterns resulting in adverse abiotic situations such as drought stress to crop plants and the general vegetation area. This has posed a threat to food security and ecosystem structure, thus it's needed to identify resistant cultivars that can survive the propagation stress. Three (3) varieties (H1, H2, and H3) of Doum palms were subjected to water regimes: sufficiently irrigated, moderate, and severe water shortage conditions for 65 days to assess the drought adaptation ability. Findings revealed that the water status of the plant was noticeably affected by water shortage in all the studied genotypes. Drought stress imposed for 65 days significantly reduced (P 鈮�0.05) the physiological and biochemical characteristics of the experimental Doum plant, such as relative leaf water content (RLWC), membrane stability index (MSI), starch content, and a relative decrease in chlorophyll content. Water stress induced a significant (P 鈮�0.05) increase in leaf proline, total soluble sugar (TSS), total free amino acid (TFAA), and glycine betaine. The findings, therefore, present the first step in understanding how doum palms react to harsh water conditions. Physiological and biochemical characteristics such as RLWC, MSI, leaf proline, TSS, TFAA, glycine betaine, and starch content are indicators when prospecting for drought tolerance doum palms.
KEYWORDS
Doum Palm, Glycine Betaine, Proline, Drought Potential, Starch Content
Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Allen Johnny Borlay , Cecilia Mbithe Mweu , Steven Ger Nyanjom , Kevin Mbogo Omolo , "Physiological and Biochemical Evaluations for Identification of Drought Tolerance Potential in Doum Palms (Hyphaene Compressa) under Water Deficit Treatment," Universal Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 474 - 487, 2022. DOI: 10.13189/ujar.2022.100503.
(b). APA Format:
Allen Johnny Borlay , Cecilia Mbithe Mweu , Steven Ger Nyanjom , Kevin Mbogo Omolo (2022). Physiological and Biochemical Evaluations for Identification of Drought Tolerance Potential in Doum Palms (Hyphaene Compressa) under Water Deficit Treatment. Universal Journal of Agricultural Research, 10(5), 474 - 487. DOI: 10.13189/ujar.2022.100503.