Glycine betaine and salicylic acid induced modification in productivity of two different cultivars of wheat grown under water stress

A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the beneficial effect of foliar application of glycine betaine (10mM), grain presoaking in salicylic acid (0.05 M) and their interaction on drought tolerance of two wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars (sensitive, Sakha 94 and resistant, Sakha 93). Water stress decreased wheat yield components (spike length, number of spikelets / main spike, 100 kernel weight, grain number / spike, grain yield / spike, grain yield / plant, straw yield / plant, crop yield / plant, harvest, mobilization and crop indices) and the biochemical aspects of grains(grain biomass, carbohydrates, total protein, total phosphorus, ions content and amino acids) in both wheat cultivars. The applied chemicals appeared to alleviate the negative effects of water stress on wheat productivity (particularly the sensitive one) and the biochemical aspects of yielded grains. The effect was more pronounced with GB+SA treatment. This improvement would result from the repairing effect of the provided chemicals on growth and metabolism of wheat plants grown under water deficit condition. In response to the applied water stress and the used chemicals, the grain yield of the sensitive and resistant wheat cultivars was strongly correlated with all the estimated yield components (shoot length, spike length, plant height, main spike weight, number of spikelets per main spike, 100 kernel weight, grain number per spike, grain weight per plant, straw weight per plant, crop yield per plant, harvest, mobilization and crop indices)