Response of South African indigenous grass species to drought stress induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000

By Leo van den Berg, Y. Zeng. 2006

142 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Degradation in arid and semi-arid regions can be ascribed primarily to environmental conditions such as extreme changes in temperature and erratic rainfall patterns. Seed germination and seedling growth of three grass species (Anthephora pubescens, Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra) indigenous to arid and semi-arid regions of southern Africa were assessed under controlled conditions that simulated drought stress using polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000. Exposure to water potentials below − 0.3 MPa significantly decreased germination rates and shoot lengths for all three species, despite slight differences in their sensitivities to osmotic stress. More dramatic differences between the species were evident when the effects of water stress on root growth were evaluated. These findings form the basis for future trials involving the use of indigenous grasses in the restoration of rangelands.

Subfields: Forestry, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/eb818357b2b32ba188003fcffbf18bf83ee59b76

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Plant Science

1. A. Moieni
2. M. Mirzaee
3. Faezeh Ghanati

Citations in the corpus

• Effects of Drought Stress on the Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidant Enzyme Activities in Two Canola (Brassica napus L.) Cultivars (2013, background): “PEG molecules with a Mr≥ 6,000 (PEG 6,000) are inert, non-ionic, and virtually impermeable chains that have frequently been used to induce drought and maintain a uniform water potential throughout the experimental period (Van den Berg and Zeng, 2006).”
• Physiological and morphological response to drought stress in seedlings of ten citrus (2016, result): “Our results of reduction in both germination rates and root dry weight with PEG are in accordance with those of (Van den Berg and Zeng 2006).”