Physiological Acclimation of Dicranostigma henanensis to Soil Drought Stress and Rewatering

Abstract

The adaptability of plants to drought not only includes their ability to resist drought stress, but also their ability to recover after stress is relieved. In this study, a weighting method was used to control the soil water content to produce a soil water stress gradient. The effects of drought and rewatering on the changes in osmotic adjustment substance content, antioxidant enzyme activity, and photosynthetic characteristics of potted Dicranostigma henanensis seedlings were measured on Day 28 after the imposition of watering treatments and Day 7 after rewatering. During the drought stress process, the relative electrical conductivity, thiobarbituric acid, water use efficiency, and proline content displayed a continuously increasing trend. Further, the net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate constantly decreased, while the chlorophyll content first increased and then decreased. After rehydration, superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1) activity and photosynthetic parameters quickly recovered to the CK level (soil moisture is 75%–80% of the maximum water holding capacity in the field), indicating that D. henanensis plants have a strong ability to repair the damage caused by drought stress. In particular, the photosynthetic machinery may have sophisticated regulation and repair mechanisms, which may be associated with its stable photosystem. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that the D. henanensis plant has a strong ability to adapt to arid environments, and therefore could be an excellent ornamental flower for landscaping in arid and semiarid areas.