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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2019, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (9): 96-109.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2018608

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Physiological responses of pea and nodule symbiosis to water stress

MA Lei1,2, MA Shao-ying3, CHEN Gui-ping1, CHAI Qiang1,2,*, LI Sheng2,4,*   

  1. 1.College of Agronomy, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China;
    2.Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Arid Land Crop Science, Lanzhou 730070, China;
    3.Basic Experimental Educational Center of Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China;
    4.College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
  • Received:2018-09-13 Revised:2018-11-06 Online:2019-09-20 Published:2019-09-20
  • Contact: *E-mail: Chaiq@gsau.edu.cn, lish@gsau.edu.cn

Abstract: This research investigated the effect of rhizobia inoculation on drought response of pea (Pisum sativum) plants under water stress. A drought-resistant variety ‘Ding wan 8’ and a non-drought resistant variety ‘Long wan 6’ were compared with or without inoculation with rhizobia strains ‘15735’ or ‘Da99’, and under three different water supply conditions: adequate water supply (soil at 75% field capacity), mild stress (soil at 55% field capacity), and severe stress (soil at 35% field capacity), the superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) activity, and proline (Pro), soluble sugar and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in aboveground and root tissues of pea plants under the three water treatments were assayed. It was found after water stress that SOD, POD and CAT activities, and Pro and soluble sugar contents in pea plants inoculated with rhizobia were higher than those without rhizobia inoculation, and in line with those results the content of MDA was lower. Additionally, these responses were more pronounced in ‘Ding wan 8’ inoculated with rhizobium ‘15735’ than in the same variety inoculated with rhizobium ‘Da99’, and also higher than in ‘Long wan 6’ inoculated with rhizobium ‘15735’. A subordination function analysis showed that ‘Ding wan 8’ inoculated with ‘15735’ strain had the highest average score and the strongest drought resistance under the three water treatments. Variety ‘Long wan 6’ inoculated with the ‘Da99’ rhizobium strain showed stronger drought resistance under sufficient water and mild water stress treatments. However, under severe water stress, variety ‘Ding wan 8’ inoculated with ‘Da99’ rhizobium strain showed stronger drought resistance. The results indicate that inoculation with rhizobia enhanced the drought-resistance of pea plants, and the rhizobium strain ‘15735’ had a stronger effect than strain ‘Da99’, while, the variety ‘Ding wan 8’ inoculated with rhizobium strain ‘15735’ still showed greater tolerance to drought than ‘Long wan 6’.

Key words: pea, water stress, symbiotic rhizobium, physiological index