Influence of Brassinosteroids and Gibberellic Acid on Biochemical Parameters of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under Water Stress Gursude Amol, Mandavia Chetana, Mandavia MK1,*, Raval Lata, Bangar Shital Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh-362 001, Gujarat, India 1Department of Biochemistry, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh-362 001, Gujarat, India *Author for correspondence: Email: mkmandavia@jau.in
Online published on 16 January, 2015. Abstract A laboratory experiment was conducted to study the effect of water stress on biochemical parameters of chickpea seeds, and to see the extent of effectiveness of two growth regulators, viz., Brassinolide (BS) and Gibberellic acid (GA3) in ameliorating the deleterious effects of water stress on seedling metabolism. The seeds of chickpea var. GG-4 were presoaked in three concentrations of BS viz., 0.25, 0.50 and 1.0 ppm and GA3 viz., 10, 50 and 100 ppm for 2 hrs. The seeds presoaked in distilled water served as control. The treated seeds were germinated in petri plates in the medium of two concentrations of Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG, 6000) viz. -2 bar and -4 bar so as to create mild and moderate stress. Seeds germinated in distilled water served as control. Activities of catalase and peroxidase enzymes were enhanced by 0.25 ppm and 0.50 ppm BS, respectively. BS @ 1.0 ppm enhanced proline and total soluble sugar contents. GA3 @ 100 ppm under mild stress enhanced catalase and peroxidase activities. Incremental trend of proline and total soluble sugar contents was observed at both the stress levels under GA3 @ 100 ppm. BS at its lowest concentration (0.25 ppm) exerted its influence, whereas the highest concentration (100 ppm) of GA3 was more effective in counteracting the effect of mild and moderate water stress simulated through application of PEG. Top Keywords Brassinosteroids, gibberellic acid, biochemical parameters, proline, total sugar, catalase, peroxidase, chickpea, PEG. Top |