Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
Drought is the most severe abiotic stress factor limiting plant growth and crop production. Many physiological processes in plants are impaired by drought stress. Also this stress can damage the photosynthesis of plants, pigments and plastids reduce chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and other carotenoids, hydrolyze proteins and prevalent photochemical reactions in most plants. The response of plants to drought stress depends on several factors such as developmental stage, severity, duration of stress, and cultivar genetics. Several strategies have been developed in order to decrease the water limitation-induced toxic effects on plant growth, among them use of bio fertilizers and supplementary irrigation play a key role in yield improvement. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of supplementary irrigation and biofertilizers on yield and some biochemical and physiological traits of barley under rain fed and supplementary irrigation condition.
Materials and methods
In order to study the effects of biofertilizers on yield and some biochemical and physiological traits of barley (Sahand cultivare) under rainfed and supplementary irrigation conditions, a factorial experiment was conducted based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications in the village of Khalkhoran viand of Ardabil province in 2016-2017 cropping season. Experimental factors were irrigation levels (no irrigation as rainfed, supplementary irrigation at 50% heading and booting stages) and biofertilizers application at four levels (without bio fertilizers as control, application of mycorrhiza, Azetobacter, and both application of mycorrhiza with Azetobacter).
Results
The results showed that the highest catalase, polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase enzymes activity (99.9, 66.9 and 78.2 OD µg Protein min-1 respectively), proline and soluble sugars content (10.25 µg/g FW and 105.7 mg g-1 FW) were obtained in both applications of mycorrhiza and Azetobacter under rain fed condition. The highest grain yield (2682 kg.ha-1) was obtained from supplementary irrigation at heading stage with both application of mycorrhiza and Azetobacter, and the lowest it (2065 kg.ha-1) was obtained in no application of bio fertilizers under rainfed condition. In conclustion, it seems that application of bio fertilizers and supplementary irrigation can be as a suitable method for increasing grain yield of Sahand barley cultivare under rainfed conditions. In conclustion, it seems that application of bio fertilizers and supplementary irrigation can be as a suitable method for increasing grain yield of Sahand barley cultivare under rainfed conditions.

Keywords

Abdel Latef, A.A., 2010. Changes of antioxidative enzymes in salinity tolerance among different wheat cultivars. Cereal Research Communications. 38, 43-55.
Ahmad, P., Prasad, M.N.V., 2012. Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants: Metabolism, Productivity and Sustainability. Springer, New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London.
Al-Karaki, G.N., McMichael, B., Zak, J., 2004. Field response of wheat to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and drought stress. Mycorrhiza. 14, 263-269.
Asrar, A.A., Abdel-Fattah, G.M., Elhindi, K.M., 2012. Improving growth, flower yield, and water relations of snapdragon (Antirhinum majus L.) plants grown under well-watered and water stress conditions using arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Photosynthetica. 50, 305–316.
Banerjee, M.R., Yesmin,L., Vessey, J.K., 2006. Plant-growth- promoting rhizobacteria as biofertilizers and biopesticides. In: Rai, M.K. (ed.), Handbook of Microbial Biofertilizers. Food Production Press, U.S.A. pp. 137-181.
Bates, I.S., Waldern, R.P., Teare, I.D., 1973. Rapid determination of free prolin for water stress studies. Plant and Soil. 39, 205-207
Behl, R.K., Sharma, H., Kumar, V., Singh, K.P., 2003. Effect of dual inoculation of mycorrhiza and Azotobacter on above flag leaf characters in wheat. Archive of Agronomy and Soil Science. 49, 25 – 31.
Bradford, M.M., 1976. A rapid and sensitive for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Analytical Biochemistry. 72, 248-254.
Calderini, D.F., Ortiz-Monasterio I., 2003. Grain position affects grain macronutrient and micronutrient concentrations in wheat. Crop Science. 43, 141-151.
Cardoso, I.M., Kuyper, T.W., 2006. Mycorrhizal and tropical soil fertility. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 116, 72-84.
Cassan, F., Perrig, D., Sgroy, V., Masciarelli, O., Penna, C., Luna, V., 2009. Azospirillum brasilense Az39 and Bradyrhizobium japonicum E109, inoculated singly or in combination, promote seed germination and early seedling growth in corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L). European Journal of Soil Biology. 45, 28- 35.
Çiçek, N., Çakirlar, H., 2002. The effect of salinity on some physiological parameters in two maize cultivars. Bulgarian Journal of Plant Physiology. 28, 66-74.
Cooper, K.M., Tinker, P.B., 2003. Translocation and transfer of nutrients in vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza. Uptake and translocation of phosphorus, zinc and sulfur. New Phytologist. 81, 43-52.
Dobbelaere, S., Anderleyden, J.V., Yaacov Okon, Y., 2003. Plant growth-promoting effects of diazotrophs in the rhizosphere. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. 22, 107-149.
Dubios, M., Gilles, K.A., Hamilton, J.K., Roberts, P.A., Smith, F. 1956. Colorimetric method for determination of sugars and related substances. Annals of Chemistry, 28, 350-356.
Feng, G., F. S. Zhang, C. Y. Tian, C. Tang, Z. Rengel, 2002. Improved tolerance of maize plants to salt stress by arbuscular mycorrhiza is related to higher accumulation of soluble sugars in roots. Mycorrhiza. 12, 185-190.
Gianinazzi,S., Schuepp, H., Barea, J.M., Haselwandter, K., 2001. Mycorrhizal technology in agriculture: from genes to bioproducts. Birkhauser, Basel. ISBN: 376436858. Also in: Mycorrhiza. 13, 53-54. Lovato, P. Book review.
Gusain, Y.S., Singh, U.S., Sharma, A.K., 2015. Bacterial mediated amelioration of drought stress in drought tolerant and susceptible cultivars of rice (Oryza sativa L.). African Journal of Biotechnology. 14, 764-773.
Hamzei, J., Seyedi, M., 2013. Response of yield and yield components of barley cultivars to supplementary irrigation under rainfed condition. Journal of Agricultural Science and Sustainable Production. 23, 159-168. [In Persian with English summary].
Huang, B., Gao, H., 2000. Root physiological characteristics associated with drought resistance in tall fescue cultivar. Crop Science. 40, 196-203.
Karo, M., Mishra, D., 1976. Catalase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase activity during rice leaf senescence. Plant Physiology. 57, 315-319.
Khalafallah, A.A., Abo-Ghalia, H.H., 2008. Effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the metabolic products and activity of antioxidant system in wheat plants subjected to short-term water stress, followed by recovery at different growth stages. Journal of Applied Sciences Research. 4, 559-569.
Liang, X., Zhang, L., Natarajan, S.K., Becker, D. F., 2013. Proline Mechanisms of Stress Survival. Antioxidant and Redox Signaling Journal. 19, 998–1011.
Ma, Y., Prasad, M. N.V., Rajkumar, M., Freitas, H., 2011. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and endophytes accelerate phytoremediation of metalliferous soils. Biotechnology Advances. 29, 248-258.
Mandhania, S., Madan, S., Sawhney, V., 2006. Antioxidant defense mechanism under salt stress in wheat seedlings. Biologia Plantarum. 50, 227-231.
Maiti, R. K., Moreno-limon, S., Wesche-ebeling, P., 2002. Responses of some crops to various abiotic stress factors and its physiological and biochemical basis of resistances. Agricultural Reviews. 21, 155-167.
Manoharan, P., Pandi, M., Shanmugaiah, V., Gomathinayagam, S., Balasubramanian, N., 2008. Effect of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus on the physiology and biochemical changes of five different tree seedlings grown under nursery conditions. African Journal of Biotechnology. 7, 3431-3436
Munns, R., 2002. Comparative physiology of salt and water stress. Plant, Cell and Environment. 25, 239-250.
Nadeem, S.M., Zahir, Z.A., Naveed, M., Ashraf, M., 2010. Microbial ACC-deaminase: prospects and applications for inducing salt tolerance in plants. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. 29, 360-393.
Naseem, H., Bano, A., 2014. Role of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria and their exopolysaccharide in drought tolerance of maize. Journal of Plant Interactions. 9, 689-701.
Noorieh, B., Arzanesh, M.H., Mahlegha, G., Maryam, S., 2013. The effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria on growth parameters, antioxidant enzymes and microelements of canola under salt stress. Journal of Applied Environmental and Biological Sciences. 3, 17-27.
Oweis, T., Hachum, A., 2004. Water harvesting and supplemental irrigation for improved water productivity for dry farming systems in West Asia and North Africa. ICARDA. Aleppo. Syria for Presentation at the 4th International Crop Science Congress 26th Sept. to 1st Oct.
Parvaiz, A., Satyawati, S., 2008. Salt stress and phyto-blochemical responses of plants. Plant Soil and Environment. 54, 89-99.
Passioura, J.B., 2007. The drought environment: physical, biological and agricultural perspectives. Journal of Experimental Botany. 58, 113-117.
Porcel, R., Barea, J.M., Ruiz-Lozan, J.M., 2003. Antioxidant activities in mycorrhizal soybean plants under drought stress and their possible relationship to the process of nodule. New Phytology. 157, 135–143
Porcel, R., Ruiz-Lozano, J.M., 2004. Arbuscular mycorrhizal influence on leaf water potential, solute accumulation, and oxidative stress in soybean plants subjected to drought stress. Journal of Experimental Botany. 55, 1743–50.
Ranjan, R., Bohra, S.P., Jeet, A.M., 2001. Plant Senescence. Jodhpur, Agrobios, pp.18-42.
Ruiz-Lozano, J.M., 2003. Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and alleviation of osmotic stress, new perspectives for molecular studies. Mycorrhiza. 13, 309-317.
Seyed Sharifi, R., Namvar, A., 2016. Biofertilizers in Agronomy. University of Mohaghegh Ardebil press. Ardebil. PP. 263. [In Persian].
Sharma, K.D., Kuhad, M.S., 2006. Influence of Potassium level and soil moisture regime on biochemical metabolites of Brassica Species (Brassica napus L.). Brassica Journal 8, 71-74.
Stone, L.R., Schlegel, A.J. 2006. Yield–water supply relationships of grain sorghum and winter wheat. Agronomy Journal, 98, 1359-1366.
Tuba Bicer. B., Narin Kolenderand, A., Akar, D.A., 2004. The effect of irrigation on spring-sown chickpea. Journal of Agronomy Asian Network for scientific Information. 3, 154-158.
Turan, M., Gulluce, M., Çakmak, R., Şahinm, F., 2013. Effect of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria strain on freezing injury and antioxidant enzyme activity of wheat and barley. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 731-748.
Wang, C.J., Yang, W., Wang, C., G.u, C., Niu, D.D., Liu. H.X., Wang, Y.P., Guo, J.H., 2012. Induction of drought tolerance in cucumber plants by a consortium of three plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium strains. Plos one, 7, e52565.
Yang, J., Zhang, J., Wang, Z., Zhu, Q., Liu, L., 2001. Water deficit-induced senescence and its relationship to the remobilization of pre-stored carbon in wheat during grain filling. Agronomy Journal, 93, 196-206