Abiotic stress physiology & tolerance

Drought, salinity, boron toxicity and heat rarely arrive one at a time, and their combined effects are not the sum of the parts. We expose cereals and vegetables to these stresses, alone and together, in growth chambers and in the greenhouse, and we measure growth, physiological responses and the nutrient composition of the tissues.

The second question is what mineral nutrition can do about it. Adequate magnesium, potassium and zinc protect photosynthesis and limit oxidative damage; root endophytes such as Serendipita indica can change how wheat copes with boron toxicity; extracts and biostimulants can raise salinity tolerance. Understanding these links is the basis for practical recommendations to growers on stressed soils.

What we have found

Willow extracts acted as biostimulants and improved the salinity tolerance of maize grown in soilless culture. In wheat, we characterized how colonization by the root endophyte Serendipita indica alters the physiological response to boron toxicity, and our GTÜ research project examined the interactive effects of salinity and boron toxicity, two stresses that often occur together on the soils of Central Anatolia. In pot trials, a urea-loaded superabsorbent polymer protected the grain yield of wheat under terminal drought by keeping nitrogen available when the crop could still use it. The publications listed below carry the details.