PJB-2023-335
THE POTENTIAL OF THIOUREA IN AMELIORATION OF NICKEL TOXICITY IN BARLEY (Hordeum vulgare L.) CULTIVARS
Sana Kanwal
Abstract
Nickel (Ni) stress is an important environmental stress which has reduced plant productivity worldwide. Thiourea (TU) is a key plant growth regulator that improves physiological and biochemical mechanisms in plants under Ni stress conditions. To explore the role of TU in mitigating Ni toxicity, we investigated various levels of TU (50, 100 mM) for 40 days on phenotypic, photosynthetic, antioxidant activity and organic and inorganic osmolytes of barley cultivars. The results depicted that Ni stress (50 mM) significantly reduced the length, fresh and dry weight of shoot and root, number of leaves per plant, photosynthetic content, antioxidative activity, organic osmolytes (soluble proteins and sugars), and inorganic osmolytes (K+ and Ca2+) in shoot and root of barley cultivars. However, the application of TU (100 mM) highly improved mentioned growth attributes, photosynthetic content, antioxidative activity, and organic and inorganic osmolyte content and proved very effective in reversing the Ni toxicity effect. Thiourea application proved very effective in balancing endogenous metabolite levels under Ni stress conditions. The cultivar, Sultan-17 proved Ni-tolerant, while, Jou-17 exhibited Ni sensitive. On the whole, TU at 100 mM proved very effective in enhancing barley growth under Ni stress. The findings of this study may have good implications for growing barley under Ni-toxic conditions.
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