EVALUATION OF DROUGHT TOLERANCE POTENTIAL OF MUNGBEAN VIGNA RADIATA (L.) R. WILCZEK GERMPLASM RESOURCES: GROWTH, PIGMENTATION AND OXIDATIVE DEFENCE MECHANISM.

Water stress is the most important abiotic factor limiting the germination, morphological and non-enzymatic attributes of plants. It also hampers the yield and firm crop stand establishment. For agricultural crops water stress poses a constant challenge and has been considered a severe constraint for the productivity of global agriculture and in the near future its severity and intensity are predicted to increase, towards water stress legumes shows high sensitivity. So, the present study was conducted to examine the water stress tolerance of twenty mung bean cultivars/lines based on the seed germination, morphological and non-enzymatic characteristics. Activities of seed germination attributes (GI and G.E), biomass production of seedling were adversely affected due to the imposition of water stress through PEG while MET and CUE enhanced significantly and G% remained unaffected whereas chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll, phenolics, proline, ascorbic acid, H2O2, flavonoids, total soluble proteins decreased due to the PEG-induced water stress but malondialdehyde (MDA) and glycine betaine contents were increased. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) were increased in all cultivars/lines being the maximum in line V14. The activities of CAT and POD were enhanced in line V14 under the conditions of water stress. In conclusion, line V14 was recommended as water stress tolerant and V19 as water stress sensitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]