Foliar Application of Silicon to Boost Biochemical and Physiological Response in Oat Under Water Stress

Drought stress is a major abiotic factor that frequently suppresses crop growth at various stages. The main ambition behind this current work is to check the influence of foliar applied silicon @50 ppm at flag leaf stage on three oat cultivars (IST, S-85/Sl and PARC) under three different field capacities (100% FC, 75% FC and 50% FC). Data about antioxidants enzymes including SOD (Superoxide dismutase), CAT (Catalase), proline compatible solutes and MDA (Malondialdehyde) accumulation was collected at flag leaf stage. Similarly, relative water content (RWC), excised leaf water loss (ELWL), membrane thermo-stability index (MTSI), SPAD chlorophyll and leaf area index (LAI) were determined. The given outcomes proved that silicon helped to minimize the harmful effect of drought by increasing proline (by 43%) as well as SOD (by 46%), CAT (by 52%) and decreasing the MDA (by 61%) in oat-tested cultivars. Moreover, Si application resulted to lowering of MTSI (by 12%) and ELWL (by 12%) while it helped to increase RWC (13%). Furthermore, LAI and chlorophyll (29%) were significantly increased with silicon application. The obtained results showed that silicon treatment could help to augment the harmful effect of water stress and mitigate this stress in different crops. Our research work provided the comprehensive note on physio-chemical properties of all oat cultivars under water stress conditions treated with silicon. This research work clearly showed that silicon could be used to mitigate water stress by maintaining leaf water balance under drought stress condition.