Hydrogen peroxide reduces heat-induced yield losses in cotton (Gossypium hirsutumL.) by protecting cellular membrane damage

We investigated the effect of various growth substances such as hydrogen peroxide, salicylic acid (SA), moringa leaf-extract (MLE) and ascorbic acid (ASA) on leaf physiology and seed cotton yield (SCY) of heat-stressed cotton. Cotton plants were exposed to elevated temperatures at three reproductive stages, either by staggering planting time in the field or by increasing growth cabinet temperatures (38/24°C and 45/30°C) in glasshouse. Elevated temperature at any reproductive phase significantly damaged cellular membrane and reduced SCY. Plants exposed to 38/24°C and 45/30°C in glasshouse produced 63% and 22% lower SCY, respectively, compared with plants under optimal temperature ((32/20°C). In response to high temperature, cotton plants up-regulated activities of anti-oxidative enzymes e.g. peroxidase and ascorbic acid. However, this defensive system could not protect cellular membrane of stressed plants from extreme temperature (38 and 45°C). In contrast, growth substances such as H2O2, ASA and MLE significantly increased anti-oxidative enzymes activity to an extent, which reduced heat-induced damage to cellular membrane. No significant effect of any regulator was observed on SCY under optimum temperatures; although H2O2, MLE and ASA significantly increased SCY of heat-stressed cotton. Hydrogen peroxide increased SCY of April and May thermal regimes crops by 16% (averaged across both sowing dates) under field, while it caused 14% and 20% increase in SCY of plants exposed to sub (38/24°C) and supra optimal (45/30°C) thermal regimes under glasshouse. We concluded that growth regulators, specifically, H2O2 can protect cotton crops from heat-induced cellular membrane damage by up-regulating antioxidant defense system.