Mohd Mazid

A review of ascorbic acid potentialities against oxidative stress induced in plants

A review of ascorbic acid potentialities against oxidative stress induced in plants Ascorbic acid (AA) currently holds a significant position in plant physiology, mainly due to its possession of antioxidant and cellular reductant etc.properties and its diverse roles in plant growth and development and the regulation of a broad spectrum of plant cellular mechanisms against environmental stresses. Some researchers suggest that endogenous AA has been implicated in the promotion of plant growth and development by involvement in a complex and enigmatic array of phytohormone-regulated signalling networks that ties together different environmental stresses. As it is evident from the present review, recent progress on AA potentiality in the tolerance of plants to environmental stresses has been impressive. Indeed, AA plays an important role in resistance to oxidative stresses such as heavy metal, saline, ultra-violet etc. Rapidly increasing evidence indicates that AA is centrally involved in several physiological processes but there has been much disagreement regarding the mechanism(s) by which AA reduces the damaging effects of such stresses in plants. Perhaps the role of AA in mediating tolerance to abiotic stress (e.g. UV, salinity and temperature, etc.) will lead to a greater research focus in the near future. In addition, AA might provide a suitably attractive target for the enhancement of crop production.

Evaluation of Chickpea Cultivation Approaches in Terms of Environmental Resilience and Future Protein Security

The commercial growth in chickpea production for exportation purposes is not keeping pace with increasing demand for protein and protein derived products. In this concern, a pot experiment was conducted under field conditions during winter 2013-2014 at Botany department, AMU, Aligarh, India. Treatment consists of (1) F W (2) F P (3) F S (4) F PS (5) S GA (6) S GA +F P (7) S GA +F S (8) S GA +F PS (9) FGA (10) FGAP (11) FGAS (12) FGAPS (13) SGA+FGA (14) SGA+FGAP9 (15) SGA+FGAS (16) SGA+FGAPS. Before sowing, the seeds of chickpea are soaked for 8 h in 10-6M GA3. After 60 and 70 days of sowing, the plants were sprayed with 10 -6 MGA 3 along with 2 kg P and /or S/ha in equal splits. Performance of the crop was assessed especially in terms of nodule number per plant, nitrate reductase activity (NR), nitrogenase (N-ase) two most significant N-fixing enzymes, leghaemoglobin content (Lb), pod weight per plant, seed yield per plant, and seed protein content. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) content in leaves were influenced almost non-significantly due to applied P and S level. Treatment (16) S GA +F GAPS proved best, it enhanced NR by 22.37% and 22.46%; Lb by 206.113 and 215.38% respectively at 90 and 100 DAS. Seed yield per plant and seed protein content enhanced by 86 and 21% by the same treatment at harvest without compromising the N-fixing activity.