Effects of Novel Composite Hydrogels on Physiological Properties of Tobacco under Drought Stress.

Objective To explore the effects of new composite hydrogel on the physiological characteristics of tobacco seedlings under drought stress, and to provide theoretical basis for alleviating the toxicity of drought stress to tobacco. Method A total of 10 treatments including CK control and three different hydrogels added at 0.1%, 0.5% and 0.9% of soil dry mass: commercial hydrogel HS, new composite hydrogel HM (polyvinyl alcohol-acrylic acid-molecular sieve hydrogel) and HB (polyvinyl alcohol-acrylic acid-biochar hydrogel) were designed by pot experiment to study the effects of new composite hydrogels on tobacco under drought stress The effects of the new composite hydrogels on biomass accumulation, root development, photosynthetic system and oxidative stress of tobacco under drought stress were investigated. Result Under the same dosage conditions, HM and HB treatments were effective in increasing the fresh mass, dry mass and total water content of tobacco under drought stress compared to HS treatment. Compared with CK, HM and HB treatments could increase the fresh mass by a maximum of 153.91% and 126.34%, respectively. Under the same dosage conditions, HM and HB treatments significantly increased the total root length, total root surface area, average root diameter, root tip number and root volume, and improved the root vigor of tobacco compared with HS treatments; photosynthetic parameters and SPAD values of tobacco increased significantly and improved leaf stomatal status; SOD (superoxide dismutase), POD (peroxidase) and CAT (catalase) activities and soluble protein amounts of tobacco increased and MDA (malondialdehyde) amounts decreased significantly, which enhanced the resistance of tobacco. Conclusion Adding 0.9% HM and HB hydrogels to soil dry weight can effectively reduce the impact of drought stress on tobacco and improve tobacco drought resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]