Alleviation of drought stress by silicon supplementation in pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) plants

• Main Authors: Habibi Ghader, Hajiboland Roghieh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 2013-06-01
• Series: Folia Horticulturae
• Subjects: antioxidant defence system; net co2 assimilation rate; quantum yield of psii; relative water content
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.2478/fhort-2013-0003

The effect of silicon (Si) supplementation (0.35 g Na2SiO3 kg-1 soil, 2.73 mmol Si kg-1 soil) was studied in drought-stressed pistachio (Pistacia vera L. ‘Ahmadaghaii’) plants under field conditions. Silicon treatment significantly increased plant dry weight and relative water content under drought stress. The application of Si for drought-stressed plants improved the maximum quantum yield of PSII. A reduction in the net assimilation rate due to drought stress was alleviated by Si application, accompanied by an increase in stomatal conductance. Silicon treatment resulted in higher catalase and superoxide dismutase activities and lower lipid peroxidation in the leaves of drought-stressed plants. The results suggest that supplementation of water-deficient pistachio plants with Si alleviates the adverse effects of drought due to its enhancement of photochemical efficiency and photosynthetic gas exchange, as well as an activation of the antioxidant defence capacity in this species.