Abstract
Root system architecture (RSAch) is central to drought management in plants. In this study, the mechanism of paclobutrazol (PBZ)-mediated improvement in tolerance to water deficit using five maize varieties was investigated. Comprehensive pot experiments were conducted during 2017, 2018 and 2019 and maize plants were subjected to 60% of evapotranspiration demand both in early deficit (EDI) and terminal deficit (TDI) irrigation regimes. Findings revealed that application of PBZ decreased plant height; while traits like stem diameter, root biomass, root length and root surface area under EDI and TDI improved significantly. Structural equation modelling of root traits revealed PBZ induced increase in root surface area (RSA) and length of seminal roots in EDI. For TDI, PBZ induced changes in RSA, length of seminal and brace roots and several reproductive attributes of the plant. Altogether, these findings propose improvement of root traits as an effective strategy to increase Water Use Efficiency of maize varieties with minimal impact on agronomic traits.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
* Email addresses: Mohammad Urfan: urfanbutt1992{at}gmail.com, Haroon Rashid Hakla: haroonhakla{at}rediffmail.com, Shubham Sharma: shubhamsharma199425{at}gmail.com, Mansi Sharma: mansisharmaa246{at}gmail.com, Manu Khajuria: manukhajuria3{at}gmail.com, Santosh B. Satbhai: ssatbhai{at}iisermohali.ac.in, Dhiraj vyas: dvyas{at}iiim.ac.in, Sunil Bhougal: sunilbhougal06{at}gmail.com, Sikander Pal: sikanderpal{at}jammuuniversity.in