Plant Growth Regulators Improve Grain Production and Water Use Efficiency of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. under Water Stress

Ghasem Parmoon, Ali Ebadi, Masoud Hashemi, Barbara Hawrylak-Nowak, Carol Baskin, Soodabe Jahanbakhsh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

The development of methods increasing plant water use efficiency (WUE) would enhance the ability to grow wild aromatic and medicinally important species. The aim of this research was to determine the effect of plant growth regulators (PGRs) applied by spraying on stress resistance and WUE of fennel subjected to water stress. Plants in the generative stage were more drought tolerant than those in the vegetative stage. Water stress at vegetative stage decreased plant biomass and grain yield by 60% and 61%, respectively. Severe water stress in vegetative stage reduced grain production by 56%, and grains had 43% lower mass than those from non-stressed plants. Application of PGRs at both stages of growth increased grain yield and biomass, but the magnitude of increase depended on the type and application time of PGRs. Plants grown in well-watered conditions and sprayed with methyl jasmonate during the vegetative stage had the highest grain production (2.7 g plant−1), whereas under moderate water stress, plants yielded the best (2.1 g plant−1) when sprayed with epibrassinolide. The maximum WUE for grain (0.91 g L−1) and essential oil production (20 mg L−1) was noted in plants exposed to moderate stress and treated with methyl jasmonate during the vegetative stage.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1718
JournalPlants
Volume11
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Foeniculum vulgare Mill
  • epibrassinolide
  • fennel
  • grain yield
  • methyl jasmonate
  • putrescine
  • water stress
  • water use efficiency

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Ecology
  • Plant Science

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