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Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin ›› 2024, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (31): 44-50.doi: 10.11924/j.issn.1000-6850.casb2024-0150

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Effects of Drought Stress on Growth and Physiological Indicators of Echinacea purpurea Seedlings

WANG Xiaoyan(), ZHAO Juanhong, YANG Zhilan, MA Caihong, ZHENG Guoqi()   

  1. School of Life Science, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021
  • Received:2024-02-29 Revised:2024-08-12 Online:2024-11-05 Published:2024-11-04

Abstract:

The paper aims to investigate the effects of drought stress on the growth and physiological indexes of Echinacea purpurea seedlings. The seedlings were treated with 5%, 10% and 15% polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000) simulated drought stress, respectively, to study the effects of simulated drought stress with different concentrations of PEG on biomass, chlorophyll content, and the accumulation of proline, soluble protein and soluble sugar in leaves and roots of E. purpurea. With the extension of drought stress time and the severity of drought, the growth and dry and fresh weight of E. purpurea seedlings showed a decreasing trend. The proline and soluble protein in leaves and roots of E. purpurea seedlings showed an increasing trend. On the 6th day after stress, when the PEG concentration reached 15%, the proline, soluble protein in leaves and roots of E. purpurea seedlings began to decrease. The soluble sugar increased with the duration and severity of drought stress. Chlorophyll content maintained normal synthesis at first, and showed an upward trend when PEG concentration reached 15%. E. purpurea seedlings have strong tolerance to mild and moderate drought stress, and can adapt to drought stress by various mechanisms such as morphological change, material metabolism, physiological regulation, etc., but the tolerance to long-term and high concentration stress is poor, protein decomposition is accelerated, cell damage is serious, and growth is significantly inhibited.

Key words: Echinacea purpurea, polyethylene glycol, drought stress, chlorophyll, proline, soluble protein, soluble sugar