DOI: https://doi.org/10.5513/JCEA01/26.4.4650
Original scientific paper
Effects of osmotic stress on root development in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes with diverse drought tolerance
2025, 26 (4) p. 1034-1042
Márton György, András Farkas, Zsuzsanna Farkas, Istvan Molnar, Angela Anda, Balázs Varga
Abstract
Climate change results in more frequent and severe drought periods that highlight the importance of breeding aiming to identify drought-tolerant wheat lines, thus increasing food security. One of the most important components of surviving the drought period could be the dynamics of root development, the shape of the root structure, which helps the plant through more efficient water absorption. This experiment investigated the root development of 18 winter wheat genotypes at the seedling stage in a hydroponic system. The seedlings were grown in Hoagland's solution, to which, in the case of the treated group, polyethylene-glycol (PEG-6000) was added at a concentration of 18%, osmotically inhibiting their water absorption. After four days of treatment, the root parameters were measured using the WinRHIZO Pro system. As a result of PEG treatment, the total root length and surface area of all varieties significantly decreased. The greatest reduction was measured in the Babuna and Bayraktar varieties, where the reduction in length exceeded 90% (91.8% and 93.5%, respectively), while in the case of four varieties (Disponent, Aura, Salamouni and Scirocco) the reduction didn't even reach 50%. All four varieties can be classified into middle and late-ripening groups.
Keywords
stress, drought tolerance, polyethylene glycol, cereal, wheat seedling, root development, climate change
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