Application of thiourea ameliorates drought induced oxidative injury in Linum usitatissimum L. by regulating antioxidant defense machinery and nutrients absorption

Khazra Fiaz; Muhammad Faisal Maqsood; Muhammad Shahbaz; Usman Zulfiqar; Nargis Naz; Abdel-Rhman Z Gaafar; Arneeb Tariq; Fozia Farhat; Fasih Ullah Haider; Babar Shahzad

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25510

Application of thiourea ameliorates drought induced oxidative injury in Linum usitatissimum L. by regulating antioxidant defense machinery and nutrients absorption

Heliyon. 2024 Feb 11;10(4):e25510. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25510. eCollection 2024 Feb 29.

Authors

Khazra Fiaz^{1

2}, Muhammad Faisal Maqsood³, Muhammad Shahbaz¹, Usman Zulfiqar⁴, Nargis Naz³, Abdel-Rhman Z Gaafar⁵, Arneeb Tariq⁶, Fozia Farhat⁶, Fasih Ullah Haider^{7

8}, Babar Shahzad⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
² Institute of Grassland Science, Northeast Normal University, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Changchun, 130024, China.
³ Department of Botany, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Agronomy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Botany, Government College Women University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
⁸ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China.
⁹ Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.

Abstract

Thiourea (TU) is considered an essential and emerging biostimulant against the negative impacts of severe environmental stresses, including drought stress in plants. However, the knowledge about the foliar application of TU to mitigate drought stress in Linum usitatissimum L., has yet to be discovered. The present study was designed to assess the impact of foliar application of TU for its effects against drought stress in two flax cultivars. The study comprised two irrigation regimes [60% field capacity (FC) and the control (100% FC)], along with TU (0, 500, 1000 mg L^-1) application at the vegetative stage. The findings indicated that drought stress reduced the shoot fresh weight (44.2%), shoot dry weight (67.5%), shoot length (41.5%), total chlorophyll (51.6%), and carotenoids (58.8%). Drought stress increased both cultivars' hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Foliar application of TU (1000 mg L^-1) enhanced the growth and chlorophyll contents with or without drought stress. Under drought stress (60% FC), TU decreased MDA and H₂O₂ contents up to twofold. Moreover, TU application increased catalase (40%), peroxidase (13%), superoxide dismutase (30%), and total soluble protein contents (32.4%) differentially in both cultivars. Nevertheless, TU increased calcium (Ca²⁺) (42.8%), potassium (K⁺) (33.4%), and phosphorus (P) (72%) in shoots and decreased the elevated sodium (Na⁺) (28.2%) ions under drought stress. It is suggested that TU application (1000 mg L^-1) enhances the growth potential of flax by enhancing photosynthetic pigment, nutrient uptake, and antioxidant enzymes under drought stress. Research outcomes, therefore, recommend that TU application can ameliorate drought-induced negative effects in L. usitatissimum L. seedlings, resulting in improved plant growth and mineral composition, as depicted by balanced primary and secondary metabolite accumulation.

Keywords: Drought; Flax; Metabolic adaptations; Photosynthesis; Sulfhydryl bioregulator.