Photosynthesis Alterations in Wheat Plants Induced by Herbicide, Soil Drought or Flooding

Abstract

The wheat plants were pretreated with the selective herbicide Serrate® (Syngenta) and subsequently subjected to drought or flooding stress for 7 days. The gas exchange parameters, chlorophyll a fluorescence and leaf pigment content were measured. The measurements were performed during the stress period and after 4 days of plants recovery. Herbicide pretreatment did not cause significant alterations in photosynthesis and fluorescence parameters in alone- or combined-treated seedlings. A significant reduction in gas exchange parameters (net photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and water use efficiency), Fv/Fm and Fv/F0 values during drought or flooding was observed. The disruption of photosynthesis together with reduction in the pigment content was stronger in droughted than flooded plants. When the normal irrigation was restored, the gas exchange and fluorescence parameters tended to increase. The comparative analysis of recovery and resilience indices of photosynthetic traits indicate that the plants subjected to drought recovered better than those subjected to flooding stress.