Physiological effects of thiourea on biological performance of plants in drought conditions: I. Increase of antioxidant protection

Abstract

The greenhouse experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of grain presoaking and foliar application of cytokinin (CK), thiourea (TU) and combination (TU+C) - thiourea with Composite preparation (pat. MD 813) containing micronutrient, on the changes of antioxidant enzymes activities, photosynthesis and grain yield of maize plants under normal water content and drought stress conditions. Treated with TU and TU+C plants resulted in great increases in the activity of SOD, CAT, APX, GR. The higher antioxidant enzyme activity in pre-treated plants was associated with the lesser MDA. Positive physiological effects of TU and TU+C were confirmed by the higher level of assimilating pigments and photosynthesis. Concentration of carotenoids was affected by drought, but spraying with TU and TU+C alleviated drought effects. It was concluded that combined application of TU+C as seed treatment and foliar spray was more effective than cytokinin in improving the Zea mays performance.