Investigating the Effect of Priming with UV-B and Foliar Application of Micronutrient Elements in Modulating the Adverse Effect of Water Deficit Stress in Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris)
摘要
To investigate the effect of priming with UV-B and foliar spraying of micronutrient elements nanoparticles in modulating the impact of water shortage stress, a split-plot experiment was carried out in two crop years, 2021–2023. Moisture conditions (normal (N) and water deficit stress (WS)) were assigned to the main plots, priming with UV-B (control levels (UV1), 4 kJm−2 (UV2) and 6 kJm−2 (UV3)) was assigned to the subplots, and micronutrient elements foliar application (zinc oxide nanoparticles (Zn), Fe nanoparticles (Fe), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) (Ag), and control (distilled water foliar application)) was assigned to sub-subplots. The results showed that seed priming with UV2 level under WS conditions significantly increased chlorophyll b, relative leaf water content (RWC), catalase enzyme activity (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), sugar content (SC), root yield (RY), and sugar yield (SY) by 37.03%, 18.31%, 11.30%, 11.43%, 12.81%, 8.06%, 18.85%, and 26.28% and reduced hydrogen peroxide content and malondialdehyde (MAD) by 8.58% and 10.54%, respectively. Under WS conditions, although Zn foliar application compared to non-foliar application, increased proline content (9.19%), CAT (18.99%), SOD (20.19%), APX (7.10%), SC(9.07%), RY(16.04%), and SY (26.45), and decreased hydrogen peroxide content (18.09%) and MAD (18.30%), the difference between this treatment and Fe and Ag foliar application treatments was not significant. In this study, the highest activity of CAT (3.34 U mg−1 protein), SOD (4.42 U mg−1 protein), and maximum SC (19.35%), RY (78.34 t ha−1), and SY (15.19 t ha−1) were obtained in response to Zn foliar treatment with priming UV2 level. Therefore, low-level UV-B priming and foliar application of nano-micronutrient elements can moderate water deficit stress.