Physiological and biochemical characteristics of some therophyllous species of the Ficus genus in water stress conditions

The Nikitsky Botanical Gardens – National Scientific Center of the RAS, 298648, Yalta, Russian Federation

^* Corresponding author: oksanagrebennikova@yandex.ru

Abstract

The relevance of the search for physiological and biochemical parameters associated with the implementation of plant adaptation mechanisms to the combined action of high temperatures and water stress is dictated by frequent summer droughts in southern regions. For this purpose, every month during the dry period under the conditions of a laboratory experiment a number of physiological and biochemical parameters were determined in the leaves of species F. palmata, F. virgata, and F. carica (Sabrutsia Rozovaya variety) that grow in the collection plots of the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens. In studied genotypes were assessed leaves tissue water сut, water deficit, moisture retaining ability, resistance to dehydration, proline content, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase activity. It was defined that during the summer season physiological and biochemical parameters in the leaves of the studied species varied unequally. There was revealed the functional relation between the activity of peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, proline content and the level of drought resistance of the studied species of the Ficus genus. The drought resistance of these varieties is most closely related to the proline content.