Physiological Mechanism for Anthocyanins to Strengthen the Drought Tolerance of Plants

This paper summarized the possible physiological mechanism by which anthocyanins strengthen the tolerance of plants to drought. Drought stress can in-duce plant cel s to synthesize and accumulate anthocyanins. The photochemical properties, subcel ular accumulation sites and spatial distributions in plant organs and tissues of anthocyanins determine their function of strengthening plant tolerance, which is realized by three possible physiological mechanisms： （1） anthocyanins and their chelated metal ions can optimize the osmoregulation ability of the plant cel s by directly acting as the osmoregulation substances of the cel s, （2） anthocyanins with suitable spatial locations can reduce the photoinhibition of the plants under drought stresses, （3） anthocyanins can effectively maintain and improve the active oxygen-scavenging capacity of the plant cel s under drought conditions. Therein, that the anthocyanins enhance the antioxidant capacity of the plant cel s under drought stresses is probably the main reason for the anthocyanins to strengthen the drought tolerance of plants. This review could provide a reference for the mechanism re-search of the drought resistance and the breeding of the drought-resistant cultivars for the plants holding the ability to synthesize and accumulate anthocyanins.

Evaluation of Drought Resistance of Olive Varieties from Different Provenances

In order to study olive’s drought resistance in Yunnan province, different varieties of olive trees from Albania, Italy, Spain and Greece were cultured, and leaves from these trees in drought season and rainy season were col ected and determined by physiological indices, such as proline content, relative electric con-ductivity, binding water/free water, relative water content and malon-dialdehyde in leaves. The evaluation of drought resistance with subordinate function showed that：There were no significant differences among drought resistances of varieties and provenances. The change of physiological indices in different varieties showed differ-ent ranges. The drought resistance of seven varieties decreased in order as fol ows：Koroneiki〉 Picual〉 Berat〉 Kaliniot〉 Frantoio〉 Coratina〉 Arbequina.

Influence of drought hardening on the resistance physiology of potato seedlings under drought stress

In this paper, the influence of drought hardening on the growth, development, resistance physiology, leaf microstructure and stomatal behavior of potato seedlings under drought stress was studied, and the mechanism of drought hardening improvement of potato seedling drought resistance was elucidated. We found that drought stress had several adverse effects on potato seedlings, yet drought hardening alleviated the decrease in relative water content（RWC）, net photosynthetic rate（Pn） and chlorophyll content and inhibited the increase in relative electric conductivity and malondialdehyde（MDA） content. Compared with contrast seedlings, drought-hardened seedlings also had enhanced root vigor, increased antioxidant enzyme activity and higher levels of abscisic acid（ABA）, proline（Pro）, soluble sugars and polyamines（PAs） under drought stress. In addition, the stomatal density of potato seedling leaves increased significantly, while the leaf area, stomatal size and stomatal aperture decreased with drought hardening treatment. These changes led to reduced leaf transpiration rate（Tr） and improved water utilization efficiency（WUE）. The changes in leaf microstructure also had a positive effect on the drought resistance of the drought-hardened potato seedlings. So it can be concluded that through increasing the content of some endogenous hormones, osmotic regulatory substances and the activities of antioxidant enzymes, the resistance physiology of drought-hardened potato seedlings was enhanced.

Advances in Biological Water-saving Research:Challenge and Perspectives

Increasing the efficiency of water use by crops continues to escalate as a topic of concem because drought is a restrictive environmental factor for crop productivity woridwide .Greater yield per unit rainfall is one of the most important challenges in water-saving agriculture Besides water-saving by irrigation engineering and conservation tillage, a good understanding of factors limiting and/or regulating yleld now provides us with an opportunity to identify and then precisely seiect for physiciogical and breeding traits that increase the efficiency of water use and drought tolerance under water-limited conditions, biological water-saving is one means of achieving this goal, A definition of bilogical water-saving measures is proposed which embraces improvements in water use efficiency （WUE） and drought tolerance, by genetic improvement and physiological regulation. The preponderance of bilogical water-saving measures is discussed and strategies identified for working within natural resource constraints. The technology and future perspectives of bilogical water saving could provide not only new water-saving techniques but also a scientific base for application of water-saving irrigation and conservation tillage.