title: Penconazole induced changes in photosynthesis, ion acquisition and protein profile of Mentha pulegium L. under drought stress.
abstract: Effect of penconazole (PEN) treatment on drought-stressed Mentha pulegium L. plants was investigated. Six weeks after sowing, seedlings were grown under soil moisture corresponding to 100, 75, 50 and 25 % field capacity (FC) with or without PEN (15 mg l(-1)) for 4 weeks. Results showed that the seedlings at 75 % FC showed maximum growth and water supply lower than 75 % FC was the threshold of drought-initiated negative effects on seedling growth. Drought stress significantly induced proline and carbohydrate contents and the decreased chlorophyll, photosynthesis parameters, soluble proteins and ion accumulations. Exogenous PEN increased the growth parameters, pigments, photosynthesis and ion accumulations in drought stressed and unstressed plants, but the effects of PEN were more significant under water deficit conditions. PEN also reduced the negative effects of drought by osmotic balance and protein accumulations. Electrophoretic patterns indicated that PEN treatment increased the intensity of some protein bands with the molecular weights of 30 kDa in shoot and 31 kDa in roots, and several new protein bands with the molecular masses between 116 and 14 kDa appeared in leaves, shoots and roots. These results suggest that the PEN application can be a useful tool in alleviation of effects of drought stress in M. pulegium plants.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biological Science, Kharazmi University, Tehran, 15719-14911 Iran ; Aerospace Research Institute, Tehran, 14665-834 Iran.
authors.forename: Halimeh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hassanpour
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biological Science, Kharazmi University, Tehran, 15719-14911 Iran ; Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ramazan Ali
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Khavari-Nejad
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, and Center of Excellence in Phylogeny of Living Organisms, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Niknam
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biological Science, Kharazmi University, Tehran, 15719-14911 Iran.
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, 14155-6343 Iran.
authors.forename: Khadijeh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Razavi
keywords: Drought stress; Ion accumulation; Mentha pulegium; Penconazole; Pigments; Protein content