Differential responses of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) cultivars to iron deficiency

Abstract

Most dicotyledonous species respond to Fe deficiency by developing defence mechanisms. To study the regulation of these responses a water culture experiment was conducted with four cultivars of chickpea (ILC 385, ILC 8530, ILC 195 and ILC 8522). Changes in the pH of the nutrient solution and the Fe reduction capacity were monitored over a period of 12 days to assess the efficiency of Fe uptake and utilization. The results revealed that the absence of Fe reduced the dry weight of all the cultivars. ILC 385 and ILC 8522 released more H+ ions from the roots and reduced the pH of the nutrient solution to below pH 4.0. When the reduction of ferricyanide by intact roots was measured, an increase in the activity of NADH-Fe-CN-reductase was noted in cultivars ILC 385 and ILC 8522, while ILC 8530 and ILC 195 had limited ability to reduce pH value and Fe reduction capacity. It could be concluded that ILC 385 and ILC 8522 seem to be more tolerant to Fe deficiency. Furthermore, this study suggests that changes in the Fe-reductase activity and in the pH of the nutrient solution may be used as laboratory techniques to assess the efficiency of cultivars in overcoming Fe deficiency stress.