Osmolyte accumulation in Avena species under moisture stress Pandey H. C.*, Baig M. J.** Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi-284003, Uttar Pradesh, India **Present address- Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack-753006 Odhisha, India
*Corresponding author E-mail: harishpandey2005@yahoo.com
Online published on 21 July, 2012. Abstract Accumulation of osmolytes like soluble sugar, starch and proline in seven Avena species was assessed under moisture stress environment both at vegetative and flowering stage. The mean sugar content decreased in leaf and stem during stress condition whereas reverse trend was observed in roots. Almost all the species showed increase in starch accumulation under water stress during vegetative stage and decrease in the accumulation of starch at flowering stage. All the species showed accumulation of proline in an increasing order with the increase in the intensity of drought. Based on the tolerance to drought duration by withholding the water, seven Avena species were grouped into three categories during vegetative stage. Group one comprised of three species showing the maximum stress up to 16th day from withholding the water, whereas second group comprised of 3 species showing tolerance up to 12 days and the third group with one species up to 9th day. Increase in proline content was observed in all the species during flowering stage but the tolerance period was shorter. Based on the proline accumulation among the six species, A. sterilis was considered as the most tolerant species under drought situation followed by A. strigosa and A. sativa during vegetative stage and A. maroccana during flowering stage. Top Keywords Avena, Drought, Flowering stage, Fodder crop, Moisture stress, Oat, Proline, Sugar, Starch, Vegetative stage. Top |