Impact of Plantago ovata Forsk leaf extract on morpho-physio-biochemical attributes, ions uptake and drought resistance of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings

Khadiga Alharbi; Haifa Abdulaziz Sakit Alhaithloul; Aisha A M Alayafi; Wafa'a A Al-Taisan; Suliman Mohammed Alghanem; Amina A M Al-Mushhin; Mona H Soliman; Moodi Saham Alsubeie; Dan C Vodnar; Romina Alina Marc

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.999170

Impact of Plantago ovata Forsk leaf extract on morpho-physio-biochemical attributes, ions uptake and drought resistance of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings

Front Plant Sci. 2022 Sep 20:13:999170. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.999170. eCollection 2022.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Biology Department, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia.
³ Biological Sciences Department, Faculty of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Biology, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Fasial University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Tabuk University, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Biology, College of Science and Humanities in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Department of Biology, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Institute of Life Sciences, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
¹¹ Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to examine the potential role of Plantago ovata Forsk leaf extract (POLE) which was applied at various concentration levels (control, hydropriming, 10, 20, 30, and 40% POLE) to the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings. Drought stressed was applied at 60% osmotic potential (OM) to the T. aestivum seedlings to study various parameters such as growth and biomass, photosynthetic pigments and gas exchange characteristics, oxidative stress and response of various antioxidants and nutritional status of the plants. Various growth parameters such as gaseous exchange attributes, antioxidants and nutritional status of T. aestivum were investigated in this study. It was evident that drought-stressed condition had induced a negative impact on plant growth, photosynthetic pigment, gaseous exchange attributes, stomatal properties, and ion uptake by different organs (roots and shoots) of T. aestivum. The decrease in plant growth resulted from oxidative stress and overcome by the antioxidant (enzymatic and non-enzymatic) compounds, since their concentration increased in response to dehydration. Seed priming with POLE positively increased plant growth and photosynthesis, by decreasing oxidative stress indicators and increasing activities of antioxidant (enzymatic and non-enzymatic) compounds, compared to the plants which were grown without the application of POLE. Our results also depicted that optimum concentration of POLE for T. aestivum seedlings under drought condition was 20%, while further increase in POLE (30 and 40%) induced a non-significant (P < 0.05) effect on growth (shoot and root length) and biomass (fresh and dry weight) of T. aestivum seedling. Here we concluded that the understanding of the role of seed priming with POLE in the increment of growth profile, photosynthetic measurements and nutritional status introduces new possibilities for their effective use in drought-stressed condition and provides a promising strategy for T. aestivum tolerance against drought-stressed condition.

Keywords: agronomic crop; antioxidant compounds; isabgol extract; nutrient uptake; oxidative stress; water deficit stress.