ABSTRACT
Boron (B) plays a vital role in cell division and elongation in apical meristem. Drought stress (DS) severely reduced the B-uptake and thus growth and crop-productivity of plants. The aims of this study were to evaluate whether foliar application of B corrects physiological-disorders under DS in two contrasting maize genotypes i.e. Dekalb-6525 (drought-tolerant) and Yousafwala-hybrid (drought-sensitive). Initially, foliar rate of B (0, 2, 4 and 6 mg L−1) was optimized in terms of improved plant growth under drought-stress. Then, optimized rate of B (4 mg L−1) was applied to assess the physiological and biochemical basis of B-induced improved growth of maize under deficit-moisture supply. Drought-stress reduced the growth of plants by lowering in water-status (leaf water-relations), photosynthetic capacity (gas-exchange aspects, photosynthetic-pigments), membrane permeability, imbalance in redox potential (oxidative-stress, antioxidant-defense system) and tissue-B concentration. Application of B considerably improved maize growth by improving water-status, photosynthetic capacity, tissue-B concentration as well as up-regulation of antioxidative defense-system. Moreover, ameliorative effects of B on maize was also evident from stress relieving indicators such as slight decrease in accumulation of proline, total free amino-acids, total soluble-sugars and MDA content under water-deficit conditions. In addition, cultivar Dekalb-6525 showed considerable improving response to B application over Yousafwala-hybrid.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.