Open Access

ARTICLE

Improvement of Selected Morphological, Physiological, and Biochemical Parameters of Banana (Musa acuminata L.) Using Potassium Silicate under Drought Stress Condition Grown in vitro

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1 Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11651, Egypt
2 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11651, Egypt
3 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
4 Department of Agricultural Botany, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo, 11751, Egypt
5 Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 11566, Egypt
6 Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
7 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 11566, Egypt
8 Biology Department, College of Science, Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, 11623, Saudi Arabia
9 Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt
10 Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Port Said University, Port Said, 42511, Egypt

* Corresponding Author: Khadiga Alharbi. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Selenium, Silicon and their Nanoparticles-mediated Environmental Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2023, 92(4), 1019-1036. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2023.026769

Received 25 September 2022; Accepted 14 November 2022; Issue published 06 January 2023

Abstract

Drought stress has become more common in recent years as a result of climate change impacts on the production of banana crops and other fruit trees. The growth and productivity of Musa spp are severely impacted by the gradual degradation of water resources and the erratic distribution pattern of annual precipitation amount. The aim of the work includes increased drought tolerance in light of water scarcity in the world as a result of the bananas’ being gluttonous for water needs. This investigation was carried out from 2019 to 2020 to study the effect of potassium silicate on morphological growth and biochemical parameters of Musa acuminata L under drought stress by PEG. As a result, drought stress reduced the morphological characteristics such as shoots number, shoot length, roots number, and survival percentage and biochemical characteristics such as chlorophyll a, b, carotenoids, stomatal status, and RWC. While proline content increased in the leaf of M. acuminata L. Media complemented with K₂SiO₃ (2 to 6 mM) either individually or in combination with PEG led to an improvement in all morphological and biochemical characteristics. The activities of CAT, POD, and PPO enzymes increased signifi- cantly compared to control. Furthermore, the lowest PPO, CAT, and POD activity were achieved. Additionally, K₂SiO₃ treatments under drought stress successfully enhanced the leaf stomatal behavior. Our results suggest that K₂SiO₃ can help to maintain plant integrity in the tested cultivar under drought stress.

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