Abstract
The present study was conducted to examine the potential role of
Plantago ovata
Forsk leaf extract (POLE) which was applied at various concentration levels (control, hydropriming, 10, 20, 30, and 40% POLE) to the wheat (
Triticum aestivum
L.) seedlings. Drought stressed was applied at 60% osmotic potential (OM) to the
T. aestivum
seedlings to study various parameters such as growth and biomass, photosynthetic pigments and gas exchange characteristics, oxidative stress and response of various antioxidants and nutritional status of the plants. Various growth parameters such as gaseous exchange attributes, antioxidants and nutritional status of
T. aestivum
were investigated in this study. It was evident that drought-stressed condition had induced a negative impact on plant growth, photosynthetic pigment, gaseous exchange attributes, stomatal properties, and ion uptake by different organs (roots and shoots) of
T. aestivum
. The decrease in plant growth resulted from oxidative stress and overcome by the antioxidant (enzymatic and non-enzymatic) compounds, since their concentration increased in response to dehydration. Seed priming with POLE positively increased plant growth and photosynthesis, by decreasing oxidative stress indicators and increasing activities of antioxidant (enzymatic and non-enzymatic) compounds, compared to the plants which were grown without the application of POLE. Our results also depicted that optimum concentration of POLE for
T. aestivum
seedlings under drought condition was 20%, while further increase in POLE (30 and 40%) induced a non-significant (
P
< 0.05) effect on growth (shoot and root length) and biomass (fresh and dry weight) of
T. aestivum
seedling. Here we concluded that the understanding of the role of seed priming with POLE in the increment of growth profile, photosynthetic measurements and nutritional status introduces new possibilities for their effective use in drought-stressed condition and provides a promising strategy for
T. aestivum
tolerance against drought-stressed condition.