Abstract
Plants grown under stressful environments, accumulate many organic compounds thorough biochemical changes, which improve their growth and development. Among these, quaternary ammonium compounds, especially the glycinebetaine (GB) is very useful in conferring resistance against abiotic stresses. Exogenous application of GB is a novel approach used to minimize the adverse effects of environmental stresses on crop plants. The present study was carried out to assess whether exogenously supplied GB has any role in drought tolerance of sunflower. Two sunflower lines, Gulshan-98 and Suncross were subjected to water stress at the vegetative and reproductive stages of plant growth. Three levels of GB (0, 50 and 100 mM) were applied before sowing (seed treatment) and at the time of initiation of water stress at the vegetative or reproductive stages. Water deficit had a marked adverse effect on capitulum diameter and number of achenes per capitulum of both sunflower lines. The sunflower line, Suncross, performed better than Gulshan-98 for both above mentioned characteristics. Exogenous application of GB either in the form of seed treatment or foliar spray was, not effective in alleviating the adverse effect of water deficit on capitulum diameter. Water stress induced reduction in number of achenes per capitulm, however, significantly improved by the foliar application of GB. Pre-soaking of seeds with GB was not effective in preventing the adverse effects of water stress on yield components. Moreover, the effects of water stress and exogenous GB was more pronounced when applied at the vegetative stage than that at the reproductive stage. Foliar spray of 100 mM GB was found to be more beneficial in preventing the negative effects of water deficit on achene yield per plant as compared with 50 mM GB.

Naeem Iqbal, M. Ashraf, M. Yasin , F. Azam. (2005) EFFECT OF EXOGENOUS APPLICATION OF GLYCINEBETAIN ON CAPITULUM SIZE AND ACHENE NUMBER OF SUNFLOWER UNDER WATER STRESS, , Volume 2, Issue 3.
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